Sleep, My Elusive Old Friend

I’ll start with a preemptive apology for and worse than normal grammatical errors and any worse than normal rambling and overall incoherence. I haven’t had a whole lot of sleep in the last few months. It began in the middle of pregnancy, though in those days I could still catch the occasional nap. Lukas started out as a very strong sleeper at birth, but the majority of his sleep took place during the day. It took us about two to two and a half months to switch him from sleeping those nice four hour stretches during the day to night time and even then there were a few nights where he quite literally woke up every thirty minutes needing the pacifier to plug the screaming hole in his face.

After two particularly crappy weeks of sleepless nights, I threw in the towel. After one midnight feeding, the next time he cried out, I simply closed the door to his room and then ours and I crashed for four hours. Kurt remarked how well I slept through the crying. I thought Lukas had eventually given in and that I had woken up to the sound of him starting up again. I had no idea the baby cried the entire time. This surely must be a sign of the stubbornness to come.

In the days leading up to Lukas’ four month birthday we were on a routine of him falling asleep at about ten at night, waking up three to four times a night, waking up for the day at about eight to eight thirty in the morning, and then only taking about three naps which lasted fifteen to thirty minutes. I didn’t feed him every time he woke up during the night, but still at four months old he should be able to sleep “through the night” without a feeding at all.

Lukas’ four-month baby wellness appointment was on Friday. The Boy weighs in at sixteen pounds. He is twenty-five and half inches tall/long, and his head circumference is sixteen and a half inches. He’s in the seventy fifth percentile across the board. He is currently wearing nine-month clothes because I can’t fit his melon head in six month clothes. He has reached all the milestones except the ability to roll over. He can recognize Kurt and I, which he has been able to do since he was two and half months old, he coos, smiles and laughs, and reaches for things. He can also self soothe. We can and do put him down for naps while he’s still awake. The boy just doesn’t sleep for very long, and will sometimes simply refuse to take a nap.

The doctor said it was absolutely fine to add some rice cereal to The Boy’s diet and that giving it to him just before bedtime should help reduce the number of times he interrupts my sleep with his nagging. That night we did just that and we put The Boy to bed at the same time Sophia goes to bed, eight. He didn’t like the cereal much and liked the bedtime even less. He only cried for half an hour but then started up again at nine or nine thirty. That lasted another hour before he finally got the hint. The next night he was quiet until nine but only cried for about fifteen minutes. Both nights he still woke three to four times. On the third night he went to bed without a fuss and only woke once. I wasn’t so lucky the fourth night. Putting him to bed isn’t an issue. Keeping him asleep for more than two hours is. I’m going to need tea that is a lot more caffeinated if this continues.

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The Ironic Shush

I can’t remember what the chaos was all about. I think Sophia had just woken from her nap. She is often very grumpy after a nap even if she wakes on her own. She had a melt down, a tantrum, so bad that Kurt and I just looked at each other knowingly. This was going to be a long few hours before bedtime. She screamed and cried stomping her feet with tears streaming down her face. Inconsolable for quite a while, Sophia finally calmed down sitting in my lap. We were on the couch, and she sucked her thumb with friend, moose, and bear. All was quiet for a moment and then the cat let out a loud whiny, “MEOW”. Sophia pulled her thumb out of her mouth and put her finger to her lips, “SSssshhh”.

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My little Mellow Yellow

No, Sophia doesn’t have jaundice nor has she been smoking dried banana skins. Not that I know of anyway. She has been incredibly mellow for the past couple days though. Mellow, even for her.

The day before yesterday I spent the morning running errands. Sophia became frustrated with getting in and out of the car so I took her to the park to burn off some energy before doing some grocery shopping. She went to the play equipment excitedly but once on it she just stood there like a bump as kids made their way around her. She would wander around the park a bit, then climb on the equipment again, and just stand. I chalked it up to not being fully recovered from her cold. We didn’t stay very long.

Yesterday morning she woke up crying as she did everyday that she was sick. After about five minutes, she went back to sleep for an hour then cried again. I got her up at eight, gave her milk, and made breakfast as usual. She didn’t touch her breakfast.

It was supposed to be my cleaning day so I zoomed up and down the stairs gathering stuff together. Sophia got upset because she could keep up with me so I sat with her and read one of the books she always carries with her. After the third time through the book I told her I had to go clean the house. She wasn’t happy.

It was only 10am and she looked tired. Her tantrum seemed to me like a cry for a nap. I picked her up and put her in her crib with her book. She protested for about five minutes and then either sat quietly plotting my demise or fell asleep. It was completely silent until about three, but even then, I only heard a couple tiny sounds that didn’t seem like a fully awakened toddler.

I had left her there all day with the assumption that she must have needed the sleep, but at Kurt’s urging I got her up at four thirty so that she would still sleep at night. I opened the door to a fully awake toddler, laying on her back, and reading her book. She cuddled with us the rest of the evening. She wasn’t interested in playing at all.

mellow baby snuggling with dad

mellow baby snuggling with dad

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Clothing Removal Analysis

I asked Kurt to wake the baby from her nap yesterday because I was making dinner. She didn’t fall asleep until three but I didn’t want her to take too late and then not go to bed at night. He went up and I heard Sophia crying, then Kurt laughing. He came down with fussy baby in his arms. Though I was curious as to why the crying baby made him laugh, I wasn’t looking.

Kurt: I’m guessing when you put her down for her nap she was fully dressed?
Me: Yes

I looked up. Sophia had no pants and had pulled her left arm out of it’s sleeve through the neck hole. She looked like a cave baby with a diaper.

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Tamales with a toddler, Yes We Can!

Yesterday I went to my parent’s house to make tamales with my mom. In the morning, I cooked the chicken, which makes chicken stock at the same time, de-boned the chicken, and then made the tamale filling with the shredded chicken. All the while I had a toddler who kept alternating between hanging onto my pant leg, going for the cat food on the floor, and demanding food from the confines of her booster seat. After I finished that task, I put the baby gate up at the front door and made trips from the kitchen to the car. I checked off that I also brought food, formula, diapers, booster seat, and baby gate up to grandma’s house to make tamales. Babies need a lot of shit!

I planned this whole thing relying on Sophia sleeping on the way up to grandma’s house. Though it would be a short nap, at least it would be a nap. My darling daughter stayed awake, quiet, but most assuredly awake through the whole trip until I was literally blocks from grandma’s house. Ok, fine. I’ll stealthily take her out of the car seat, tip-toe up to an empty room and quietly set her down. Nope, she’s awake. Shit.

Sophia stayed awake the WHOLE day. She pointed out exactly where grandma needs to baby proof her house about every five seconds, but she didn’t fuss. While I was assembling tamales, Sophia actually amused herself for half an hour with a small empty plain brown cardboard box. MYGOD she really is my child.

My mom and I experimented with substituting 2/3 of the Crisco we usually use with olive oil. I think it tastes a lot better and I know it’s a lot healthier. After we’ve used up all the Crisco we have left, we’ll probably switch to 100% olive oil.

My dad and I talked about the election. He couldn’t believe how fast it all went. He didn’t expect to know so quickly.

My parents live in a small city in a Hispanic neighborhood. They’re within a mile of a community college and blocks from an elementary school. My dad said after Obama was announced president elect that he stepped outside. The neighborhood was quiet, but in the surrounding area, he could hear shouts and cheers. It’s really amazing. I’ve always thought of picking a president as choosing between the lesser of two evils, not so this time. I really have high hopes for Obama. I know he’s inheriting a huge fuckin’ mess, so it’ll be slow going, but I really think he has our best interests in mind.

My mom commented about Rev. Jesse Jackson crying at Obama’s speech. I joked that of course he cried, he wanted that spot for himself. Jesse could never make it, not in 1984, 1988, not now, nor anytime in the future. His whole platform would be about a black man making it in a white world, which fractures the crowd. That only captures a small percentage of the population because it even alienates other minorities. Obama obviously brought us all together and has the attention of the world. His election is being compared to the fall of the Berlin wall and Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon.

Obama victory sparks cheers around the globe
By JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press Writer
People across Africa stayed up all night or woke before dawn to watch U.S. history being made, while the president of Kenya – where Obama’s father was born – declared a public holiday.

In Indonesia, where Obama lived as child, hundreds of students at his former elementary school erupted in cheers when he was declared winner and poured into the courtyard where they hugged each other, danced in the rain and chanted “Obama! Obama!”

Many expressed amazement and satisfaction that the United States could overcome centuries of racial strife and elect an African-American as president.

“This is the fall of the Berlin Wall times ten,” Rama Yade, France’s black junior minister for human rights, told French radio. “America is rebecoming a New World.

“On this morning, we all want to be American so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding before our eyes,” she said.

In Britain, The Sun newspaper borrowed from Neil Armstrong’s 1969 moon landing in describing Obama’s election as “one giant leap for mankind.”

 November, 30 posts in 30 days nablopomo.com

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55 Flash Fiction Friday: Devilish Crib Party

Wednesday morning I awoke to the sounds of hand clapping, babbling, happy shrikes, and little pajama traction feet rubbing and stomping against the wall.  It lasted from two in the morning until four.  I was not amused.  Hopefully she’ll sleep in.  Not a chance!  Maybe she’ll take a long nap.  DENIED!  Oh, you little shit.

I guess it was retaliation for dressing her funny

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Linus Complex

Every morning after Sophia gets her second diaper (yes, second diaper, not first) changed she scoots over to her crib (it’s a small room, she doesn’t have far to go) and reaches through the bars for ‘friend’ if she can’t reach him (can a pink blanket be a ‘him’?) she’ll get upset and I toss the blanket to her. She will then pop her thumb in her mouth and flop forward onto ‘friend’ as if she’s praying to Mecca. No, she doesn’t face the same direction every time, and I have no idea which direction would be the appropriate one to face in my house. Anyway, it’s hilarious and I have pictures for you my pretties. This morning she took it a bit further and drug the blanket with her to the next room. She’s getting extremely attached to ‘friend’ and she won’t nap without him. I wash ‘friend’ each time she recovers from a cold or stomach flu and it’s hard to time it so that he’s clean and dry for her nap or bedtime. I can see her ‘friend’ looking very much like Kurtie’s old ‘friend’ very soon. Would it be appropriate to name a girl Linus?

The female Linus

She’s laying on her side in this shot. It was the best “Mecca” pose I got. Usually she’s totally flopped forward with her face buried in her blanket.
The female Linus

butt scooting away with friendbutt scooting away with friendbutt scooting away with friendbutt scooting away with friendbutt scooting away with friendbutt scooting away with friend

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55 Flash non-Fiction Friday: Unicorn Baby

I fear ‘Unicorn Boy’ indeed passed on his unicorn genes. Two weeks ago, Kurt watched the sleepy, unwilling to take a nap, Sophia. She was sitting, which she is quite capable of, when she quite suddenly flopped forward hitting her head on the hardwood floor. She didn’t bother bringing her arms out to stop herself.

55 Flash Fiction Friday
Flash Fiction Friday is hosted by g-man. You may also visit Flash Fiction Friday 55′s, a blog dedicated to hosting 55 Flash Fiction Friday posts.

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Sick Baby

Last night Sophia had a fever of 100.4. I gave her Tylenol which she promptly spit out. I don’t know if she spit it all out or if she actually got some in so I didn’t do another dose. An hour later I was still awake so I took her temperature again. Same temp. :( This morning she still had the same temperature. So far I’ve given her two doses of Tylenol and she has had two naps – both under twenty minutes. I don’t think I’ve taken a temperature under or over 100.4 today. She is working on her third nap and I’m debating on weather I should shower or try and get some sleep. Most likely I’ll keep debating with myself and neither will get done.

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Fat lip baby

This is another post should have a picture attached. Of course, it probably wasn’t bad enough that anyone else would be able to see it, but Sophia came home from daycare with a fat lip yesterday. I stayed at work an extra ten minutes chatting with a coworker and arrived at the daycare ten minutes after Sophia’s fat lip incident. *sigh*

They all looked worried when they saw me arrive to pick up Sophia instead of Kurt. I think they were expecting a much more emotional momma bear. She looked fine and every kid gets them, so no big deal. Apparently, Sophia was sitting on the floor with a boppy pillow behind her, since she has a tendency to fling herself backwards. She was reaching for a toy in front of her, flopped forward and hit her mouth on the floor. This incident has caused us to find that her two bottom teeth are coming in. I still can’t see them. You would think that I would be the first to know, but I haven’t felt them either. We know because the skin inside of Sophia’s top lip was scratched in two places all the way up. They gave her an icepack and me an “occurrence report” to sign.

Yesterday’s Daily Infant Report read, “Hi there! Sophia had a great day! Even without her ‘friend‘ she did pretty good. Today I saw she sitting up all by herself! She is strong”

You’ll have to forgive the grammar. English isn’t her first language. The part about her sitting up meant that she saw Sophia waking up from a nap and the next thing she new Sophia sat up without using the bars on the crib. She’s only an infant but she sat straight up! Actually, she cheats a bit by using her elbows to push herself up, but still! I know this because I’ve watched her do it several times.

I can’t believe I forgot to bring ‘friend’ with me yesterday! Today as I dropped her off, they made sure I had ‘friend’ with me. Today’s Daily Infant Report read, “Hi there! Sophia is doing better and better each day! Today she was giggling and smiling a lot when *name of other caregiver* was playing peek-a-boo with her. We took pictures of it!”

I can’t wait to see those pictures. :) Oh and she had a two hour nap on her stomach! (They of course place her on her back to sleep.)

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