I want to press rewind and play on yesterday-over and over and over again until I've played it so much the tape breaks where the film is worn.
I picked Sophie up from Phillip in the afternoon because he had to attend a meeting. Sophie was excited to see me, greeted me with hugs and a kiss. We drove home talking about cows and horses as we passed by the many farms in our neck of the woods. We talked about seeing Doodle and playing on the porch. Together we sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and I wowed her with "Row Row your Boat" and my amended version of "Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee."
When we checked the mailbox there was a letter and Elmo stickers from Aunt Mimi. We used three sheets of stickers in less than five minutes. I have since hidden two of the sheets so we have some to enjoy later.
We made dinner. Without prompting Sophie snatched her salad bowl off the counter and carefully carried it out to the deck table. She came back in to help bring out place mats and napkins. She ate most all of her dinner after eating part of an apple, 1/2 of a fruit cup, one chocolate Easter egg, and a piece of cheese. She didn't spill anything by accident or intentionally. After dinner she asked to get down from her chair and played on the deck while Phillip and I talked about our day at work. Then Sophie returned to the table to help bring the dishes inside. She delicately juggled my empty wine glass and the tub of Parmesan cheese across the deck, up the stair, into the house and to the counter.
She accepted that she needed a bath. We showered and she scrubbed herself and washed her hair. Jammies, hair combed, and teeth brushed.
We read several books in her room and then it was time for night night. Kisses and hugs all around. We had an evening of play, love, cooperation, helping, no tantrums or out bursts. Pure joy. And only two blood curdling screams when we left her room and closed the door. Nothing is truly perfect!
Showing posts with label bed time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bed time. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
To sleep or not to sleep
Google "sleep facts" and you will no doubt have an onslaught of results. One quickly caught my eye with it's teaser info.
"A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year!" Found on Hibermate.com
That's a lot of lost sleep! Toddlers need between 14-15 hours of sleep a day. But getting a child to sleep-yeah, there don't seem to be a lot of "facts" on that. I've done a lot of "research" on this topic - Google searches, asking friends with kids, reading baby forums, talking to my mom and mother-in-law. If only we could teach kids at the tender age of two that they WANT to sleep now because it is a precious commodity when they are older the world world would be a happier place.
We are still having problems getting Sophie to go to sleep. I follow the rules: bath, jammies, brush teeth, soft light, blinds closed, story (or four), hugs and kisses, into the bed. And each night it's the same. Even though she is practically jumping out of my arms and into the bed-she screams when she gets in there.
"Green, green." She shouts, indicating she wants the green blanket. And then the fuzzy new blanket Gramma made her, or the blanket I knit her. "Pillow, pillow." She wants the other pillow. "Doodle, doodle." Meaning she wants another stuffed dog to sleep with. I really don't put up with this long. I tell her I love her, give her another kiss, and make my exit. The screaming and crying continues. Breaks my heart every night. I just want to put her down with a hug and a kiss and have her peacefully drift to sleep. But that's not my lot.
Two nights ago we went to check on her before we went to bed and she was sideways in the crib, blankets askew, feet dangling out between the bed slats. Last night she cried and talked to herself for 45 minutes! And when I heard a banging sound over the sound of the tv I sent the husband in to check on her. She was sideways again and kicking the bed and it reverberated against the wall. Tonight cries and sounds of "MAMA" continued as I got in the shower. Post shower I hear her talking to herself. "No, no, no-no." Who knows.
Luckily nine and a half times out of ten when she is finally asleep she sleeps the whole night through. I guess I've just got to pick my battles.
"A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year!" Found on Hibermate.com
That's a lot of lost sleep! Toddlers need between 14-15 hours of sleep a day. But getting a child to sleep-yeah, there don't seem to be a lot of "facts" on that. I've done a lot of "research" on this topic - Google searches, asking friends with kids, reading baby forums, talking to my mom and mother-in-law. If only we could teach kids at the tender age of two that they WANT to sleep now because it is a precious commodity when they are older the world world would be a happier place.
We are still having problems getting Sophie to go to sleep. I follow the rules: bath, jammies, brush teeth, soft light, blinds closed, story (or four), hugs and kisses, into the bed. And each night it's the same. Even though she is practically jumping out of my arms and into the bed-she screams when she gets in there.
"Green, green." She shouts, indicating she wants the green blanket. And then the fuzzy new blanket Gramma made her, or the blanket I knit her. "Pillow, pillow." She wants the other pillow. "Doodle, doodle." Meaning she wants another stuffed dog to sleep with. I really don't put up with this long. I tell her I love her, give her another kiss, and make my exit. The screaming and crying continues. Breaks my heart every night. I just want to put her down with a hug and a kiss and have her peacefully drift to sleep. But that's not my lot.
Two nights ago we went to check on her before we went to bed and she was sideways in the crib, blankets askew, feet dangling out between the bed slats. Last night she cried and talked to herself for 45 minutes! And when I heard a banging sound over the sound of the tv I sent the husband in to check on her. She was sideways again and kicking the bed and it reverberated against the wall. Tonight cries and sounds of "MAMA" continued as I got in the shower. Post shower I hear her talking to herself. "No, no, no-no." Who knows.
Luckily nine and a half times out of ten when she is finally asleep she sleeps the whole night through. I guess I've just got to pick my battles.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Follow up to Night Night
"Good, you've pinpointed it. Step two is washing it out."-Tommy Boy
Well we don't have to wash it out but we do need to figure out the solution to the problem. I think the issue with Sophie not wanting to go night night is that she doesn't want to go to sleep in her bed. While gathering up her items for sleep tonight she was laying on our bed and said "night night" like she meant it. I then picked her up and she fought me to get out of my arms. The crying and screaming started immediately on the walk across the hall to her room.
We haven't really ever been co-sleepers. When she was an infant she had only slept with us occasionally and that was usually in the middle of the night when she would NOT go back to sleep. Lately when she has seemed to wake in the middle of the night particularly distressed I let her snuggle with us but she never falls back asleep and just plays with my nose and mouth so I eventually put her back in her bed.
I guess wanting to go night night in our bed is just so she can be with us. But I need my beauty sleep so that's not going to happen if sleeping in our bed becomes a new habit. I wonder if it's time to upgrade to a big girl bed so she feels the same level of comfort she has in our bed? Hmmm What do you think the solution is?
Well we don't have to wash it out but we do need to figure out the solution to the problem. I think the issue with Sophie not wanting to go night night is that she doesn't want to go to sleep in her bed. While gathering up her items for sleep tonight she was laying on our bed and said "night night" like she meant it. I then picked her up and she fought me to get out of my arms. The crying and screaming started immediately on the walk across the hall to her room.
We haven't really ever been co-sleepers. When she was an infant she had only slept with us occasionally and that was usually in the middle of the night when she would NOT go back to sleep. Lately when she has seemed to wake in the middle of the night particularly distressed I let her snuggle with us but she never falls back asleep and just plays with my nose and mouth so I eventually put her back in her bed.
I guess wanting to go night night in our bed is just so she can be with us. But I need my beauty sleep so that's not going to happen if sleeping in our bed becomes a new habit. I wonder if it's time to upgrade to a big girl bed so she feels the same level of comfort she has in our bed? Hmmm What do you think the solution is?
Monday, February 22, 2010
Night Night
Night night is a new favorite game for Sophie to play...at all hours of the day. Get her up from her nap and she says night night, slams her head against her mattress before I even have a chance to get her out of the crib. While changing the sheets on our bed- she will grab our pillows and go night night in the warm downy soft pile of bedding on the floor. If only actual night night was this easy.
Sophie's first few months on this earth were not easy. She supposedly had "her days and nights confused" whatever-she was an infant- don't they all do that?
She started out rough but somewhere around six or seven months she was sleeping through the night and it was bliss. 13, 14, 15 hours at a time. A new mother's dream. For about the first 9 months of her life she would head off to the land of nod after breastfeeding or a bottle, nestled on one of our chests while we rocked her and her lullaby soundtrack gently played on iTunes.
Sure it wasn't always bliss but looking back it seemed pretty easy. For a while between her first birthday and 18mos. she would nearly jump out of my arms and into the crib! She wouldn't make a peep and to me it was MAGIC.
Now I approach night night with anticipation and trepidation. On a regular day I don't get to see my lovebug before I head out for the Battle of the Beltway at 6:00 a.m. When Sophie and Phillip arrive home in the evening we have a little play time, dinner, bath, books, and bed. I have to squeeze all that into a three hour stretch: 5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. That leaves 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. for "me" time. It's not easy, but it's what we do.
Sophie's bedtime used to be 7-7:30 p.m. but due to the aforementioned schedule that just wasn't working out and wasn't enough family time. So we've pushed the bedtime to 8:00 p.m. -remember I only get about an hour of downtime a day! For about the past two months on a pretty consistent basis when we put Sophie to bed she SCREAMS! Crying, tears, kicking, and screaming. It breaks my heart every time. I'm being a bit selfish in that 8:00 p.m. is MY time and she is intruding on it by screaming and crying. I often just wait outside her door and listen and pray and sometimes cry myself that she will stop quickly. Sometimes she only cries and doesn't scream but it still doesn't make it that much better.
I don't know what to do. It upsets me and frustrates me. I have taken to giving her a quick hug and kiss and I love you and leaving the room abruptly because I want to get over the screaming part as quickly as possible. Tonight she went to bed at 8:17 p.m. and screamed and cried until 8:24 p.m. That doesn't seem like a long time but when all you can hear is screaming a crying it seems like an eternity.
We do the routine thing. Dinner, usually straight to the tub, play in the tub, jammies, brush teeth, read or play quietly and then 8:00 p.m or a bit later bed time. We both hug and kiss her and wind up her musical bear and lights out...and then the screaming.
I don't know what else to do. I sometimes just go to bed then too listening to her across the hall and asking myself what I'm doing wrong.
What is your nightly routine? How well does your toddler go to bed and sleep? Any advice?
Sophie's first few months on this earth were not easy. She supposedly had "her days and nights confused" whatever-she was an infant- don't they all do that?
She started out rough but somewhere around six or seven months she was sleeping through the night and it was bliss. 13, 14, 15 hours at a time. A new mother's dream. For about the first 9 months of her life she would head off to the land of nod after breastfeeding or a bottle, nestled on one of our chests while we rocked her and her lullaby soundtrack gently played on iTunes.
Sure it wasn't always bliss but looking back it seemed pretty easy. For a while between her first birthday and 18mos. she would nearly jump out of my arms and into the crib! She wouldn't make a peep and to me it was MAGIC.
Now I approach night night with anticipation and trepidation. On a regular day I don't get to see my lovebug before I head out for the Battle of the Beltway at 6:00 a.m. When Sophie and Phillip arrive home in the evening we have a little play time, dinner, bath, books, and bed. I have to squeeze all that into a three hour stretch: 5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. That leaves 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. for "me" time. It's not easy, but it's what we do.
Sophie's bedtime used to be 7-7:30 p.m. but due to the aforementioned schedule that just wasn't working out and wasn't enough family time. So we've pushed the bedtime to 8:00 p.m. -remember I only get about an hour of downtime a day! For about the past two months on a pretty consistent basis when we put Sophie to bed she SCREAMS! Crying, tears, kicking, and screaming. It breaks my heart every time. I'm being a bit selfish in that 8:00 p.m. is MY time and she is intruding on it by screaming and crying. I often just wait outside her door and listen and pray and sometimes cry myself that she will stop quickly. Sometimes she only cries and doesn't scream but it still doesn't make it that much better.
I don't know what to do. It upsets me and frustrates me. I have taken to giving her a quick hug and kiss and I love you and leaving the room abruptly because I want to get over the screaming part as quickly as possible. Tonight she went to bed at 8:17 p.m. and screamed and cried until 8:24 p.m. That doesn't seem like a long time but when all you can hear is screaming a crying it seems like an eternity.
We do the routine thing. Dinner, usually straight to the tub, play in the tub, jammies, brush teeth, read or play quietly and then 8:00 p.m or a bit later bed time. We both hug and kiss her and wind up her musical bear and lights out...and then the screaming.
I don't know what else to do. I sometimes just go to bed then too listening to her across the hall and asking myself what I'm doing wrong.
What is your nightly routine? How well does your toddler go to bed and sleep? Any advice?
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