Claire and Luc's ongoing adjustment


Claire's sleep seems to be more or less what it was before we left. Luc on the other hand sleeps for about 4-5 hours straight, then wakes up and sleeps for about an hour at a time the rest of the night. After each hour he fusses some more, but we can usually get him back to sleep. The bigger question might be how Claire and Luc are adjusting to being away from home and in a strange place.


Since Luc isn't talking, he can't tell us he misses home. I suppose this is a good thing. From his behavior I'd surmise that he has adjusted pretty well. He's still a stubborn little bugger. He still loves pounding things, making banging noises, and in general being loud and destructive. Just now he has a wooden toy in a plastic bag and is walking around swinging it against the marble floors.

One adjustment he seems to have made is getting daytime sleep when and where he can. We try to be at the flat for regular naps, but yesterday, for example, after yet another dismal night sleep, and a morning of waiting in line to register at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (a huge hassle I should explain in another post), he was exhausted. He fell asleep in Marion's arms while we rode a noisy and bumpy rickshaw back to the flat.

Eating is another story. He goes stretches without eating much at all, and then has periods where he really gorges. Sound like an eating disorder? Before going to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office yesterday, we stopped at the Hyatt Regency around the corner from the office for a 5-star breakfast buffet. He ate various danishes and muffins, french toast, some fruit and yogurt. In the picture above, we were at a bookstore cafe and he discovered the pastry display case. It's a great picture because we have a similar picture, below, taken back in October in front of the pastry case at Fat Apple's, down the street from our house. This morning, however, he ate nothing but a banana.


Claire has adjusted quite well, not just with her sleep, as I mentioned above. She has gotten into a decent daily routine. Marion and I have our Nescafé every morning while sitting in the cold outdoor dining area, and Claire has taken to having warm strawberry milk. She doesn't really drink it, she just likes the idea of it. This morning she was especially taken with how her pink fleece perfectly matched the color of the milk.

The other thing that has been nice with Claire's adjustment is having Asha and Aditi to play with. Last night we went to Chandra and Dev's flat again, and the three girls played house, climbed in a really neat swinging bed that Asha and Aditi sleep in, and in general had a really good time. She keeps asking to see her new friends. In some ways she seems to be a happier child than I recall in the last month or so before we left (granted she was sick during much of that period). She has also been playing really well with Luc. They make each other laugh much more frequently than they did before. This may just be a developmental change and have nothing to do with being in India. They still have their conflicts, but the good times are much more frequent. If we only had Claire with us, she'd probably die of boredom. But having her brother to play with seems to make life much more enjoyable.

Perhaps most surprising of all, she hasn't once asked to go "home" (meaning our house in El Cerrito). I take that back. In the airport in Dulles, waiting for our flight to Frankfurt, she said it once. Since then she hasn't mentioned it. The other day she looked at a bunch of old photos on Marion's iPod and seemed kind of down afterword. I'm sure the pictures reminder her of home. But then we distracted her with another activity and she was fine. I think we'll only show her our pictures from India from now on, unless she specifically asks to see pictures from home.

Posted: Thu - December 8, 2005 at 07:24 PM          

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