Awakenings
Abbie’s willingness to accept sleep moves in cycles. Sometimes I just need to point her toward the bed, and she’ll quickly drift off to sleep, or at least stay put until she falls asleep with a minimum of complaint. Other times she wants to sleep less than Lindsay Lohan while shooting a movie, running around her room, flinging things across the floor, and generally running a race to see if she can wake her brothers or force us to intervene first.
Right now she’s in one of those fighting sleep moods. The first sign came two nights ago when I put her through the bedtime routine, lovingly kissed her and wished her goodnight, and spent the next hour listening to her bouncing around the room on the baby monitor. Her bouncing was gentle though, and seemed to mostly comprise singing to herself. Her brothers didn’t complain that she was keeping them awake or even that she didn’t know any of the words, so I let her go until she drifted to sleep with visions of La La-ers singing in her head.
When she started bouncing around the room again last night, I paid her little attention. When her singing started sounding more like Linkin Park than MacArthur Park, I tried to ignore her, especially since her brothers weren’t complaining. They were certainly awake, but they were quiet, possibly because they were enjoying the show or maybe just captivated by the preview of all the things they could do once they learned how to fall out of their crib like their sister.
Ellie had no such patience, and was concerned that Abbie had wedged herself between furniture or otherwise needed assistance before going to sleep. She doesn’t have the advantage I do of listening to the kids scream all day to differentiate between a scream that requires adult intervention, and a scream that will work itself out. The “I’m bored” scream will work itself out, for example, as will the “I fell and hit my head mildly hard” scream.
Against my advice, Ellie entered her room, and found that Abbie needed assistance. Not that she needed assistance moving a heavy piece of furniture; she needed assistance dealing with the society’s norms and our house rules. She was naked, and by “naked” I mean “no pajamas or diaper.” She had successfully removed both, peed on the floor for good measure, and was now standing in Tory’s crib. Ellie, who was simultaneously grateful and regretful that she took the initiative to check on her, started working to clean the mess and clothe the child, but not necessarily in that order.
After that, Abbie bounced around her room for several more minutes, but eventually relented and fell asleep. We breathed a sigh of relief as the boys stayed silent throughout the ordeal. Plus Abbie had a big day at the state fair in the morning, and would need a full night’s sleep to enjoy it. Abbie stayed asleep all the way until morning, 4 in the morning to be exact. It was my turn to check on her before the boys woke. Of course her diaper was on the floor when I opened her door. I hope she sleeps better tonight.
Right now she’s in one of those fighting sleep moods. The first sign came two nights ago when I put her through the bedtime routine, lovingly kissed her and wished her goodnight, and spent the next hour listening to her bouncing around the room on the baby monitor. Her bouncing was gentle though, and seemed to mostly comprise singing to herself. Her brothers didn’t complain that she was keeping them awake or even that she didn’t know any of the words, so I let her go until she drifted to sleep with visions of La La-ers singing in her head.
When she started bouncing around the room again last night, I paid her little attention. When her singing started sounding more like Linkin Park than MacArthur Park, I tried to ignore her, especially since her brothers weren’t complaining. They were certainly awake, but they were quiet, possibly because they were enjoying the show or maybe just captivated by the preview of all the things they could do once they learned how to fall out of their crib like their sister.
Ellie had no such patience, and was concerned that Abbie had wedged herself between furniture or otherwise needed assistance before going to sleep. She doesn’t have the advantage I do of listening to the kids scream all day to differentiate between a scream that requires adult intervention, and a scream that will work itself out. The “I’m bored” scream will work itself out, for example, as will the “I fell and hit my head mildly hard” scream.
Against my advice, Ellie entered her room, and found that Abbie needed assistance. Not that she needed assistance moving a heavy piece of furniture; she needed assistance dealing with the society’s norms and our house rules. She was naked, and by “naked” I mean “no pajamas or diaper.” She had successfully removed both, peed on the floor for good measure, and was now standing in Tory’s crib. Ellie, who was simultaneously grateful and regretful that she took the initiative to check on her, started working to clean the mess and clothe the child, but not necessarily in that order.
After that, Abbie bounced around her room for several more minutes, but eventually relented and fell asleep. We breathed a sigh of relief as the boys stayed silent throughout the ordeal. Plus Abbie had a big day at the state fair in the morning, and would need a full night’s sleep to enjoy it. Abbie stayed asleep all the way until morning, 4 in the morning to be exact. It was my turn to check on her before the boys woke. Of course her diaper was on the floor when I opened her door. I hope she sleeps better tonight.
posted by Matt at
11:02 PM
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