Today was the day! Katrina took her first nap in the crib in her room!
And just in time too; she's seriously outgrowing the Pack'n'Play bassinet.
Sleep Report: An hour and twenty minutes to go to sleep again last night, with interruptions. But, she woke up every 3 hours or so during the night. Most parents of 4-month-olds would consider this dreadful, but it's such an improvement that I'm OK with it. For now. I nursed her each time she woke up, but it wasn't clear she was hungry, and I don't want to develop a new dependency.
But, she didn't go back to sleep after nursing....disaster! Or was it? Turns out, a soft blanket with a satin edge that Sara gave us is a real hit. Instead of sucking on the pacifier, Katrina now grabs this blanket and sticks it in her face, sometimes even sucking on it. Last night at 3:30am when she wouldn't go back to sleep after nursing, I put a blanket corner in her hand, and it had almost the same effect as the pacifier: she calmed right down. Verr-ry interesting. The advice to give the baby a "lovey," or an object to get attached to, never worked with the boys. But clearly Katrina is comforted by having something familiar to hold or suck on. I'm perfectly happy with this blanket being a substitute for the pacifier.
So today, Katrina's morning nap was in the carseat, falling asleep on the way home from music class. OK, I can live with that. Her afternoon nap, I put her in the crib with as many familiar things as possible -- including the pacifier. Once she's used to the crib, and is more used to going to sleep at night without the pacifier, then out it goes for naps too.
And boy was she a happy, gooey, gurgling baby when she woke up from her 2-hour afternoon nap in her new room. I daresay she found it more interesting in there!
Just to complete the sleep report: tonight, Dave and I went to our usual skating class, then dinner. I felt bad doing this to Peggy, but Katrina was going to have to cry in her crib to sleep tonight, without the pacifier. But Peggy said she did great! It took about 25 minutes of off-and-on crying/fussing -- not screaming -- and she went to sleep. Ye-yayyy!!!
Peggy also commented that she had to let Evan, her 5-month-old, cry to sleep recently too, and he screamed for 3 hours. It struck me how little angst she had about it. Clearly, it wasn't pleasant, but she just seemed to accept that it was necessary, and preferable doing it now than when he's older. Perhaps it's from being raised in another culture (Peggy is from Mexico City), and perhaps partly because she's such a cool cucumber anyway, but she wasn't wracked by guilt about it. And she certainly isn't a detached parent, and her daughter certainly isn't distant or insecure. Geez, Miranda is one of the most confident and outspoken kids I know. I felt better knowing other moms go through this too, and some aren't that bothered by it. I still SO wish there were another way. Barring that, I SO wish this way were over!
OK, anyone else tired of the trials and tribulations of baby sleep?! It's traumatic, I'm telling you!
Julian's turn. He woke up this morning at 5:30am with another nasty nosebleed. He had a slight temperature, 100, that faded, so I took him to music class. Back at home, he was playing quietly, then called for me: "Mommm-my!" Pooped in his pants. WHAT a mess. After his nap, another slight temp. Then he pooped in his pants again while Peggy was here. (He's not just having random accidents, it's diarrhea.) Needless to say, no preschool tomorrow.
Fun kid anecdote time. I should do this every day. There's no shortage of material, after all!
In music class today, we had a substitute teacher, who was OK (though I liked Teacher Danny better!). Usually, music teachers show a picture from the music book before one song of the session, and it's not that big a part of class, or that big a deal if they don't. Gabriel would never, ever look at them. But today after music class, Julian told me that new teacher had forgotten to show pictures. I was surprised, I'd never have thought he'd notice. I certainly didn't.
Yesterday, Gabriel and Julian were putting together a puzzle....well, Julian was doing the puzzle and Gabriel took over, ordering him around. I heard Gabriel criticizing the way Julian was working: "No, those are bad qualities!" Qualities?!
As I type, Katrina is asleep upstairs in the -- dare I say it -- "nursery," while Dave and I are still sleeping downstairs. But a baby who doesn't sleep all night, and a mom suffering separation anxiety, will be the fastest motivators ever for us to get our things, and us, upstairs soon!
2/15/07
No comments:
Post a Comment