the fortress and bedtime

We've been watching a lot of Tangled in our house lately. So much so that not only do lines get repeated while watching it, but we often reenact scenes. And what better time to reenact than at bedtime? Because every little thing comes up at bedtime:

I gotta go potty.
Read me another book.
Tell me a story.
I need a bandage.
The colors won't stop looking at me. (the light from her closet?)
I need some water.
Why won't this work?
Daddy needs batteries for the Wiggles. (the CD in the car skips so she thinks it's low on batteries!)
What does Mama start with?
What does Greasestina start with? (she can't say Christina)

And on and on and on.

I know you feel my pain. And I know that I need to buck up and say good night and get the hell out of her room but, well, I'm just so tired by then and I know what will happen if I try to leave so I give in. I know... I KNOW... the put-the-child-back-into-bed-with-no-eye-contact-and-no-emotion-every-single-time-they-get-out-of-bed-no-matter-how-many-times-that-is thing will work after just a couple of nights of doing it but I'm just too tired to do it. That's the truth.

So I give in to the million requests, including the ones where I'm the nasty mean Mother from Tangled and my darling Princess is, of course, Rapunzel.

And in order to really reenact it all we need a tower, right? So what better tower than her bed? MAYBE IT WILL GET HER TO STAY IN HER BED!!

So the other night, I got some cheap Walmart blankets and thought about it and thought it: How can I get these up onto her bed and get them to stay without looking like total shit? And then things started coming together...

I took one long crib bumper and shorter one and tied them together (they were in her closet) and rigged them from one side of her open crib to the other side- across the top of the crib sides. Then I laid blankets over top. But how would they stay up when Lovie inevitably moved and jumped around?

I got some clothes pins (big package for $1 at the Dollar Tree) and pinned the back of the blankets so they had some weight. Then I taped the clothes pins to the rails of her crib with washi tape. Bada boom, bada big a fort was made!

Lovie adores it. She calls it a Fortress- or her tower if we're playing Tangled.

The first night... it didn't work. She kept coming out of bed and I asked her if she wanted me to take the fort down. She said yes to try to call my bluff but this Mama can be a Mother and took it down. Man was she pissed. I kept telling her I'd put it back up the next night and it would stay up as long as she wanted or as long as she STAYED IN BED at bedtime.

Last night... it worked. She stayed in bed.

We still had a millions stall tactics, but at least we didn't have to strap her down* into her bed to get her to finally settle down and go to sleep.




*That's a joke, people; we don't ever strap her down into the bed.

Sticker Chart for bedtime

I get up before 5 AM during the week. I wake Lovie up at 5:30 AM. It's not easy, but doing so allows us more time together after work/school before she has we have to go to sleep. That said, bedtime for Lovie is 7 PM. Yes, that's early but did you see what time I have to wake her?

Anyway, we've always been pretty strict with a bedtime routine... but that doesn't make bedtime always fun. In fact, the older and more defiant she gets, the harder and longer the routine lasts. And mama needs her sleep!

Enter the Bedtime Routine Sticker Chart:

It's absolutely nothing fancy, and it's only been part of her routine for three nights but if all goes well, it may stick around for some time.

I threw it together in minutes and it's cheap, cheap, cheap.

Supplies
* Poster board
* Clip art printed on regular paper
* Washi Tape
* Marker
* Stickers
* Reward (I got a package of Princess erasers)

I picked up the poster board, stickers, and erasers at the Dollar Tree on my way home from work. Then I searched for Toilet, Wash Hands, Brush Teeth, Bath (wash face), Pajamas, Clothes (picking out clothes for next day), Bedtime Stories, Sleep in a Word document clipart. I printed each one out, cut, then taped (with Lovie's help) onto the poster board with Washi Tape ($1.99 a roll from Downtowntape.com). Then I made rows and columns with more tape. Then I wrote the days of the week on the left column. This all took maybe 10 minutes tops.

I asked Lovie what she saw in each picture and told her that after she did each of these things before bed, she would get to take a new sticker and place it in the box under the picture for doing a good job. If she fills a whole row with stickers, she gets to choose a reward (and I showed her the princess erasers).

She got super excited and kept asking, "OK now what's next?"

It's only been three nights but so far, it's going OK I think. It's really helped with the stall tactics because she's got visual prompts to guide her. And it's helped with her staying in bed while I read and hopefully getting her more comfy and relaxed. But it's far from perfect, of course (she has yet to get a reward).

posting to post just because i'm feeling needy & want some comment love

check out my new Facebook page header:

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it's official. i'm a Dance Mom.

 

isn't she darling? she loves ballet. it's a bit crazy to me how unlike me she is, but i absolutely love it so much. she's Lovie and that elates me so.

Lovie's been sleeping in her sleeping bag since the weekend.

on the floor. her choice. it's kinda odd but hey, she's sleeping. she's also been fighting us less since i started laying down with her every night after our bedtime routine. i tell her stories with the lights out and usually fall asleep. she says, "tell another story, mom" and wakes me. i tell another story or two before drifting off or sneaking out for the night. a part of me wants her to just go to sleep without me laying down with her but guess what? this her needing me bit won't last forever so i'm milking it for all it's worth right now. and in the mornings the past couple of days, rather than wake her and get into a fight about what to wear, etc, i wake her and scoop her into my arms and let her snuggle into me for a minute or two. she burrows right into me and it's absolute bliss. i can't even really put it into words. just so peaceful and such a welcome change from fighting about hurrying up. sure it would be great if i could just snap my fingers and have things happen but that's not reality and, again, it won't last forever so may as well enjoy the bliss while i can.

this last bit comes with no pictures... just a reason for some silence around here? i've been getting headaches every single fucking day now for weeks. since the new year really. i'm not dealing well with stuff going on. my grandmother mainly. watching her die is incredibly difficult. i just want her to experience some peace already, yet i don't want to never be able to see her again. see? INSTANT HEADACHE after typing that out. and there's other stuff, too. that's life, though i suppose. and i'm just grateful to be here another day for Lovie.

It's time to get up!

When Lovie was only a couple weeks old, I went out and picked up the Seahorse, a beloved little stuffed toy whose tummy glows a soft yellow and plays soft lullaby music for about five minutes.

I'd wrap Lovie up tightly in a swaddle and place her in her crib, press the Seahorse's belly and Lovie would watch her Seahorse and fall asleep. Oftentimes I'd have to press the belly more than once as the light and music lasted only five minutes, but Lovie adored her Seahorse.

In fact, I used to say that the Seahorse and ceiling fan were Lovie's first BFFs.

Lovie still has her Seahorse but now she calls it her pet: "Say hi to Little Pet," she'll tell me as she cradles the thing like a newborn baby.

The batteries in the Seahorse died long ago and she stopped caring much about it (the pet thing came about recently when she found the Seahorse amidst her toys in a box in her room).

Forever now, Lovie's had to get up at 5:30 weekday mornings so I can drop her off at school by 6:30 so that I can make it into work by 7AM so that we can be home by 5PM and have some time together before bed. After about 13 months, Lovie started sleeping later than 5:30 and I would have to wake her. After a couple times of having one hell of a time getting her awake without her wanting to kill me, I learned to ease her into waking up (I open her door, turn on the closet light, turn off her noise machine while I continue to get ready- making as much noise as possible).

On weekends, she would generally sleep for 11 to 12 hours, very rarely waking before 7.

But then she started growing and growing and with that, she needed less and less sleep. Or something. And soon, we were waking before 6AM on weekends, too.

MAMA NO LIKEY THIS!

So enter The Owl. An uncle to the Seahorse, if you will.

I read lots of stories online about getting some sort of (alarm) clock in her room and telling her she couldn't get up before X time. Lovie's known her numbers for a year now, including by sight, but I still wasn't sure if this would work because her room is very dark due to black-out curtains (HIGHLY RECOMMEND). Well, then I happened upon The Owl and I thought back to the Seahorse days and I just had a good feeling The Owl would work.

Basically, The Owl is a stuffed toy (but not soft like a normal stuffed toy) with a clock inside that can be set and locked for certain wake up time or wake up nap time. The tummy of The Owl can be pressed (though Lovie can't do this since you have to press a little hard) and if it's not time to wake up, The Owl's belly turns yellow and says "It's not time to wake yet, go back to sleep now" (or something) and plays soft bedtime music. If it's closer to the wakeup time that's set it says something like, "It's not time to wake yet, just a little bit longer" and, again, plays soft bedtime music.

When the time is reached that's set for wakeup, The Owl turns green and stays lit for 20 minutes (I think) or until you press its belly. Then, when you press the belly, The Owl says, "It's OK to wake now!" and plays an upbeat song before turning off.

Lovie ADORES when it lights up green. It could be 5:30 in the morning during the week and if she sees it's green, she instantly smiles and asks me to press the belly to play the music so she can dance along with it (incidentally, if I press the belly at bedtime and it turns yellow, she doesn't like it all and asks to shut it off immediately).

It took several weekends before she'd stop calling for us if she woke before The Owl turned green, but once she realized that she had to stay in bed till it was green, she learned to just chill out till then. And once it's green, she lights up (along with The Owl) and shouts out, "Mama! Daddy! It's green! It's time to get up!" which Mama can handle much better than at 5:45AM.

Amazon (where I purchased The Owl) and the makers of The Owl do not know I exist. I'm not being compensated in any way to review this. These are just my opinions.

Letting Go and Growing

I'm not a fan of seeing awake babies with pacifiers in their mouths... especially when said babies can walk and talk. It really bugs me when I see this. Always has, always will. It's a pet peeve of mine, I guess.



rare photo of binked-up Lovie before bed, 4/2012

That said, on our way out of the hospital with a 3 day old baby doll in my arms, we finally gave up our ideals of a pacifier-free baby and begged the nurses for a pacifier; Lovie wouldn't stop crying unless she was on my breast or had a pacifier. (This all plays into why I gave up breastfeeding- turns out I was starving Lovie with my lack of milk which is why she was always crying {always} when she wasn't nursing.)

By the time she was 6 months old, Lovie pretty much only had a pacifier during naps/bedtime and in the car. I even had her daycare providers follow this and it wasn't really ever an issue.

The closer she got to turning 2, the more I wanted to get rid of the pacifier all together. She was always very attached to it at night and I was afraid it would carry on for years and years and start negatively affecting her teeth. Still, I let her have it at night and naps at home only (at about 20 months old, her daycare teachers were able to stop her from having it during her naps so I followed that with removing it from car trips, too), and I started telling her the Binky Fairy would come and take her binky soon to give to a baby who needed it since she was such a big girl. We talked about this a lot. A lot. And then she turned 2 and I decided to wait a week because nothing says "Happy Birthday" like taking away something that comforts you.

The thing is, when it finally came down to doing it, the thought of taking her comfort away from her really tore me up. So we decided to give it another six months. After all, it's wasn't like she was 12 and still with a binky; another 6 months should be OK, especially since she only was using it for sleeping.

Well, last month, one of her favorite teachers came back to school with her new baby girl and Lovie was smitten. And one morning she woke up and said she wanted to give her binky to the new baby- she put the binky in a box and everything. (She was down to just the one binky and I told her that it was the last one- she had chewed through two others prior and yet this one was still in tact for months and months.)

We took the binky in a box to school, but since the teacher and the baby weren't there at drop-off, I conned Lovie into allowing me to bring it later in the day when I picked her up (because I was terrified of Lovie changing her mind and then causing so much havoc that her teachers give her the binky). But when I picked her up, the teacher and baby had just left.

I didn't know what to do. The plan was we give the binky away and meet Daddy at Target to pick out a new toy. I called up the hubs to tell him I still had the b-i-n-k-y and we decided to still move forward with the plan like we gave the binky away. We met at Target and Lovie, after an hour of looking at and playing with toys, picked out a pink (of course) cash register toy.

We got home and played with it for a bit before getting ready for bed.

Not going to sugar coat it: that first night, especially, was AWFUL. She cried and screamed and flopped around like a fish out of water for an hour before settling down.

The second night took about half an hour, but with much less screaming and crying.

By the third night, Lovie was fine without the binky. She would ask for it- just before bed- but we'd ignore her or just tell her it was "all gone now that you're such a big girl." We used lots and lots of praise when telling her how big a girl she was, but we did so without EVER mentioning the binky. Even that first night of horror, we never once said the word.

It's been about a month now and the binky is definitely a thing of the past. She might say she wants her binky on rare occasion but, again, we just ignore it or tell her it's all gone and life just goes on. Bedtimes aren't as magical as they were when she had her binky (she's back to stalling stalling stalling), but they aren't anything like that first night without her binky.

Honestly, I think this has all been harder on me than anyone else. Lovie's my one and only. I'm so proud of the little girl she's turning into, but it's also so hard to let go of the baby stuff. Like the binky.

I think that's why I haven't really pushed her on potty training. I certainly don't want her in diapers in a year, but I also just am in no hurry to move her on in her childhood. This is a big reason why I'm grateful she's still cool with being in a crib.

I mean, I'm super proud of her- she's truly amazing and incredibly smart and funny and just such a character. And she really is such a big girl in so many ways- she eats with a fork, she drinks without a lid (meals at home), she remembers everything, she talks up a storm. I know she'll always always always be my baby... but still, it's hard sometimes... this letting go and growing thing.

sweet dreams

The make-believe this child is coming up with lately is too much fun. Too much fun. We laugh so much while playing with her. I know I've said it before but I really do mean it this time: this is the absolute best age.

Before she goes to bed for the night, we spend 15 minutes in her room doing whatever she wants to do. Lately that's a lot of singing and dancing. She'll pick up an old toy and turn it into a microphone and announce, "Ladies and Gentlemen, now introducing Mama and Daddy!" and then the hubs and I cheer and she hands me the toy and tells me to try it. I take it and speak into it, "Ladies and Gentlemen, now introducing... Lovie!!" and she bows and says "Thank you, Thank you!"

this may or may not be
a pic of my child's crack

It's hysterical. Really, it is.

Tonight, she gave the "microphone" to her daddy and he announced her and said that he would sing while she danced. And that's exactly what happened. Only while she danced, her pullup started falling down and she was bouncing around the room with her little crack showing.

I was in tears from laughing and couldn't get to the camera fast enough.

Then the alarm went off on my phone (all part of our fabulous bedtime routine) indicating bedtime and surprisingly, she settled right down despite all the goofing around.

As Daddy laid blankets on her, I stood in the doorway and said, "I love you sweet baby."

She replied, "I love you sweet bay... mama!"

Heh, this little chica is just so damn awesome and I'm just so damn blessed it's crazy.

Sweet dreams.

TILTW: 5/19-25

* Lovie is truly learning more and more every single day. I know this, but then there are moments when she really kinda sticks it to us with how vastly she's learning. Like the hashbrown/potatoes incident on Saturday. Or the ease in which she puts her ABC puzzle, which she hasn't touched in months, together. Or the way she totally understood that if she didn't stop screaming when we were in the car the other day (because I wouldn't let her hold the steaming hot personal pizza I got her for dinner), she wouldn't get to watch TV when we got home. (That last one really amazed me. I was tantruming right along with Lovie because she was so loud and then I took in a deep breath and said in a soft, calm voice "If you don't stop screaming, no TV when we get home." And she let out a quick whimper and that was all she wrote!)

* I've eaten low carb since Monday and am down 5 pounds. I didn't think I could do it again (I followed Atkins back in 2004-5 with immense success but then gained it all back and then some- which murdered my gusto at doing it ever again... or so I thought), but I've been struggling internally for a couple months now and I just had to do something. I tried Weight Watchers last year and lost 30 pounds but gained it all back, and eating low carb is so much easier for me than counting calories and figuring out what the points are to foods. Plus, because I have mild diabetes, it's best I stay away from all sugar and ... I just felt so fucking amazing, so alive when I was low carbing. And I so desperately want that feeling back because now I've got my Lovebug to share that energy with. Wish me luck. Please, wish me luck.

* Last night was a bit rough in the Finally household. We've been talking about Lovie giving the binky (pacifier) away for months, but since she only is allowed it at home and in bed, we haven't pushed it much. Yesterday morning, however, she woke and wanted to give her binky to a new baby at her school (a baby of one of her favorite teachers). We put it in a jewelry box and everything. She told daddy she was going to do this and held onto that box all the way to school, proudly telling me how she was going to give the binky to [Baby's name] and "she's going to be sooo happy, Mama."

When we got to school, I told Lovie that I would hold onto the binky until after school since the baby wasn't there yet and when I picked her up, we'd give the binky to the baby. She was cool with this. When I picked her up... the teacher and baby had just left. But Daddy and I decided to go through with it and we met at Target where Lovie spent more than one hour looking at all the toys. 

We left the store with a new toy cash register (which is pretty badass I must say) (the new toy is a reward for being a big girl and giving up the binky). When it was time for bed, Lovie wanted her binky (Rut Roh) and grandmabear. We told her she could have her grandmabear to snuggle, of course, but that the binky was gone because she's such a big girl. Our regular routine went out the window, of course. Lovie wanted her binky (and really, I don't blame her- poor thing).

It took about 45 minutes before she finally fell asleep- but it was done so without the binky. This morning, she woke insanely early and I'm sure it's because there was no binky to nom on and go back to sleep. :(  

I know she can sleep without it because she does it all the time at school and in the car... but it still hurts to see her hurt. I mean, she didn't just cry for it, she literally flopped around with arms flailing, back arched. We remained super calm and quiet and assured her she could do this and that we're super proud of her. I held her (as best as I could) and sang softly to her early on in that 45 minutes. She settled down for a couple minutes but then would get super worked up again. Like I said it took about 45 minutes from the time she was put in bed till she fell asleep. We'll see what this weekend brings, eh? It won't bring her a binky but hopefully it will get easier for her...

Do you believe in Magic?

I do.

Especially if it’s 1-2-3 Magic- the book about “Effective Discipline for Children 2-12.”

*To be crystal clear- these are my own words, my own thoughts. I’m in no way, shape, or form affiliated with the writer of, nor the actual book or publishing company, etc of 1-2-3 Magic. They don’t know me. They don’t know I’m writing this. They didn’t give me the book to review. They don’t know me from Adam. I’m nobody to them.*

I have a 2 year old (end of December). At her 18 month checkup, her pediatrician suggested we pick up 1-2-3 Magic for an approach to disciplining our Lovie. She’s always been pretty much ahead of the game with all of her milestones and he said we could start implementing some of the ideas from the book if we felt we needed to, despite the age stated.

We didn’t get the book right away but we didn’t really need to; Lovie’s always been a pretty easy baby. Or else we’re extremely patient? If you know me at all, it’s not that I’m patient.

After getting the book when she was about 20 months old, I read it pretty quickly. It’s not long and it’s a quick read. I love all the examples provided and I love that there is reasoning as to why something might or might not be working.

Still, we didn’t really have any use to put it into practice. So the book sat and Lovie turned two. And, just like that, she was starting to test us more. But still, she listened to what we were saying and, since we were both always on the same page and very consistent, we never had to really put her into a time out or discipline her more than stating that something was dangerous. Yes, really. She’s that good of a kid. Yes, I know how crazy lucky we got it. Thanks, though.

But then bedtime would roll around and … by the time we’d leave her room, I was exhausted.

I began to dread putting her to bed. It usually wasn’t too bad if it was just me putting her to bed because I didn’t stand for (all) the stalling she did, but regardless, it got to the point where I would just walk out of the room quickly after saying my good nights and I love yous, and she’d be left screaming and jumping up and down and crying out for me. And the nights Daddy was there in time for bedtime, he would stay in the room to settle her down but usually, an hour later, she’d call out for one of us or shriek with glee as she continued to practice her jumping. (There were several times where I actually went to bed and fell asleep before her. And I have to get her up at 5:30 in the morning during the week so her lack of getting a good night’s sleep was causing major havoc in our morning routine, too.)

I was spent. And I started dreading… dreading… bedtime.

I’m not sure what it was- maybe out of sheer desperation- but I decided to pick up 1-2-3 Magic again one day, remembering that the author touched on bedtime. I quickly skimmed over to the bedtime routine and read the section, “Going to Bed- And Staying There!” several times.

I tagged the pages I wanted the husband to read and told him we would be taking the plunge that night and to just follow my lead.

We were all sitting on the couch watching Nick Jr. and it was nearing 7PM- Lovie’s bedtime Sunday through Thursday. The show Olivia was on and I told Lovie that when it was over, it would be time to brush her teeth- something I tell her every night.  I also sounded the alarm on my cell phone. Lovie looked at me like WTF? And I told her that the next time she heard that Beeping sound, it would mean that we had to stop whatever we were doing and go to bed.

When the show was over, I turned off the TV. Lovie started with the usual whining and begging for another Olivia and refusing to brush her teeth. I explained again that Olivia was over, that we’d watch again tomorrow, and that it was now time to brush her teeth and get ready for bed. She started playing with some cars or something. We kept repeating it was time to start getting ready for bed and eventually got her into the bathroom to  finally brushed her teeth.

Then we went into her room and, like normal, Daddy sat on the floor near her two large stuffed bears, I sat on the chair next to her bed. Lovie started opening books or something. I sounded the alarm again and reminded her that the next time she heard it, it meant it was time for bed. I told her we could read, sing, play, drink water, go to the bathroom until the Beep Beep Beep but once it sounded, she had to go to bed.

She just looked at me. Daddy just looked at me.

“Do you want to read a book?”

“No!”

“Do you want me to sing?”

No answer. So I started to sing (thankfully- I love singing bedtime songs normally with her in my arms but I didn’t want to push the issue).

Lovie played with some blocks and kind of ignored her dad and me. I reminded her again that when the Beeping sounded it was bedtime, and asked if she was sure she didn’t want daddy to read a book. She got a book and brought it to her dad to read.

A minute after they read, the alarm sounded. It was 7:15PM.

We all jumped a little. I really should put a clock in her room.

Lovie and Daddy looked at me. I grabbed my cell phone from the bookshelf and stood up and looked at my husband and, with my eyes and mind, told him to stand up, too. He obliged.

I scooped up Lovie and gave her a million kisses and told her it was bedtime. She turned into a floppy, out-of-water fish. Daddy snuck in a couple kisses and I laid her in her crib. (Yes, she's still in a crib. There's more info in the book about if your child is in a regular bed and gets up out of bed- info that we will most definitely practice should Lovie do this once she moves out of the crib.)

She immediately stood up and asked for water and I, laying her back down, told her she could have more in the morning and reminded her the Beeping sounded and it was now bedtime.

“Sweet dreams, baby girl. I love you. Night Night,” I said with my hand on her belly gently.

I then … walked out of the room and into the living room to look at the clock on the cable box. It was 7:17.

I turned back around and saw my husband standing beside me. We just looked at each other, saying nothing.

“Really?” I finally said. “It’s that easy?”

Husband looked at me, shrugged his shoulders, and went on his computer. I stood there for another couple minutes and listened. I heard nothing coming from down the hall where Lovie’s room is. Nothing.  I went back to the husband and said, “Why haven’t we done this sooner?”

Again, he just shrugged.

Since that very first night, it’s been the same thing (I extend the alarm a half hour on weekends) every single night. Except, after a full week of doing this, the whole routine started going even smoother because once she became used to the alarm, she started wanting to sit with us before it sounds as we read and sing (which for us is so ... blissful, really). She doesn't flop around when I scoop her up for hugs and kisses before laying her down; there's no more jumping in the bed; there's no more shouting out for us once we leave the room.

This shit is MAGICAL.

A month ago, it would take HOURS before she’d fall asleep.

A month ago, I’d leave her room wanting to scream and pull my hair out.

Bedtime has been dreadful this year (literally- it’s like a switch went off in her in January)- up till I studied the Bedtime section of the 1-2-3 Magic book a couple weeks ago.

And now... It’s Magical. Bedtime is magical! It’s enjoyable. It’s relaxing. It’s the way it should be.

* To be crystal clear- these are my own words, my own thoughts. I’m in no way, shape, or form affiliated with the writer of, nor the actual book or publishing company, etc of 1-2-3 Magic. They don’t know me. They don’t know I’m writing this. They didn’t give me the book to review. They don’t know me from Adam. I’m nobody to them.*

well rested baby is a happy one, right?

Phew. Check out those tabs below that adorable header. Notice anything new? I added two new tabs- one on bedtime, one on napping. Maybe it will help you out, maybe not; nevertheless I’ve been meaning to write about our routines and how I believe it’s because of those routines, that we have such an awesomely happy baby kid pretty much 24/7. Well, something happened yesterday that sparked this mad rush of writing… apparently, daycare is trying to transition my Lovie to one nap a day!


Now, she generally only naps once a day there anyway, but now they’re trying to make it so that that one nap is after lunch. Sigh. And when I asked if they thought I should do the same (they’re doing this because she will be moving to the Toddler Room {TR} in a month, if not sooner and in the TR they all nap at the same time- after lunch), they said it would probably help her adjust better at daycare if we dropped a nap on the weekend.

I thought about all that we’ve done to get Lovie to be the awesome sleeper that she is (and yes, I do realize that much of our success is a result of Lovie being a generally easy baby- we’re not super human or anything!) and this nap situation all the way home after leaving daycare. And then, when I was on the phone with my husband for the two minutes he could spare, I was about to tell him we were going to try to drop a nap when I changed my mind and decided that I’d rather be with a happy baby on the weekends than a miserable one.

Here’s the thing. Lovie naps just fine at home. I’ve long accepted her napping like utter shit at daycare. It’s been happening since day 1 practically! But on the weekends, I have no problem getting her to nap twice a day: once in the morning, around 10 and once in the afternoon, around 3. I’m not a bitch about it either and there have been times when she refused the second nap but she always has that first morning nap without any problems and generally the second nap is without any problems either. She comes to me when she’s tired and starts laying on me and will literally walk to her room after I say, “Come on and get your baby doll so you can take a nap.” Why on earth would I take that second nap away from her? She’s happy. She’s happy and content and fabulous and I’m not sure I want that to stop just so that things can be easier on the folk at daycare.

Besides all that, Lovie adores the TR. She’s been there a handful of times already and loves it and they love her. So I’m sure once she’s in there, she’ll do fine transitioning to one nap a day. It’s not like she’ll just fall asleep while they’re playing. That’s not her. She’s got to be up in the action and the action is with the “big kids” in the TR.

So… I’m keeping things as is at home. It works. And if it aint broke, I aint touching it!

Cutest Alarm Clock Eva

Ack, don't you just wanna swoop her up and nom on her?? : )

She did it again last night! My itty bitty baby doll Lovie slept through the night.

: (

I know most parents would be doing cartwheels right now... but not me.  In fact, I slept horribly last night because I just missed her so much.

How pathetic is that??

After our normal bedtime routine, we laid her down and she fussed for a couple minutes until she flipped over onto her belly and started playing with, holding, singing with the Seahorse. Her head would pop up, she'd look at the Seahorse, her head would lay down. Repeat about 64 times.  The hubs turned the Seahorse back on when it shut off - not because Lovie fussed, but because he "wanted to be nice." : )  When the Seahorse turned off the second time, Lovie turned her head the other way and laid it down and fell asleep.

It was 7PM on the dot. No pacifiers were used, only the Seahorse.

Sometime after 2AM, I heard her "talking" as I slept on the couch. (I couldn't sleep. I missed my baby doll and was hoping she would wake so wanted to be nearby when she did.)  With my eyes still closed, I smiled listening to her jibber jabber. When I reached for my cell phone/alarm clock to see the time, it said 5:08AM.

Oops. I forgot that I shut off the alarm yesterday when I wasn't sure if I hit the off button or snooze button.

Thank goodness Lovie woke when she did or we'd have been sorely late to school and work.

...8 more hours baby girl

bedtime

Last night was a bit rough (when it comes to Lovie) as far as getting Lovie to go to sleep.

Ever since she's been about 2 weeks old, she's been sleeping in her crib.  And this whole time we've basically been following the same routine at bedtime: bottle, bath (every other night- though this may change to every night now that day care is starting to apply sunblock when they take the kids outside), story (or 2 or 3- minimum is Goodnight Moon), cuddles and kisses, lay down in crib, (swaddled up to 3 months old), paci if wanted, Seahorse on, noise machine on, Nighty night.  Sure, in the beginning, we would have to stay very nearby for up to an hour at times to pop the paci back in or to rest a hand on her to reassure her we were there and everything was safe, but both the hubs and I remained very consistent with our routine and Lovie was very rarely ever picked up and/or rocked, etc, once she went down for the night - except for another bottle.

We didn't read any "sleep training" books or anything, we just started a "routine" very early and we're both very firm believers that consistency is key with anything baby/child related.

It's not rocket science, after all.

Anyway, last night was quite odd because for months now, Lovie generally will go to sleep within minutes of laying her down... except for last night. It was like she reverted back to being a brand spankin' new baby.  We gave her a bottle, gave her some cereal, a bath, cuddled, read stories, cuddled and kissed, laid her down, Seahorsed, noise machined, Nighty Nighted... and after a couple minutes, she started fussing. And that fussing turned into crying. First daddy went in to give her the paci and calm her a bit and after a couple minutes more fussing.  So I went in.  Then again the fussing, then crying, then screaming.

Lovie does not scream unless something is wrong or unless she's super hungry and we neglect to realize that she's hungry.

I had the hubs make a bottle while I did something I normally do not do: I picked her up. I had to. She was so upset and I'll be damned if my sweet angel get so upset for no apparent reason.  It was like she was scared or something!  Poor baby!

I picked her up and she immediately calmed down.  I started singing softly to her and she remained calm but very alert, never once really relaxing.  After several minutes of singing and rocking I laid her back down.  She started to get excited again and I softly told her it was bedtime, that we were here for her, that we weren't going anywhere, that it was OK to go to sleep.  I placed my hand on her chest and belly as I softly spoke and shhhhhhushed.  She grabbed onto my hand with both of her hands and just looked into my eyes.  We stayed like this for a good five minutes before she started to really relax and release her grip a bit.  I slowly removed my hand and quietly walked out of sight.

She was out cold in a matter of seconds.

I was glad I could help her, but I was also a bit upset that she was so upset. Does that make sense?

Well... she ended up sleeping the entire night through - something she's NEVER done. She's gone a night without waking to eat, but she'd always wake and fuss long enough to get us to give her a paci before falling back asleep.  She did that for 5 days in a row several weeks back but since has been back to wanting to have a bottle (and eating it all up!) once in the middle of the night.

Last night was the first night she just slept.  (I know I'm a freak of nature but I actually *miss* her when she STTN because I love that time with her when she wakes to eat - it's so peaceful and quiet and after she's done eating, she closes her eyes, smiles, and nuzzles into me and goes right back to sleep.)

I think it's because she's been rolling onto her belly to sleep. Because this morning (the 5th morning finding her on her belly) when I went in to wake her, I said, "Good Morning!" in my trying-to-be-excited-and-happy voice and she instantly popped her head up (she was on her belly) and smiled super big though her eyes were still closed.

SO.FRIGGIN.CUTE!

Good Morning Baby Doll!!  Good morning, Good day, Good night, Good LIFE!!

... 7.5 more hours