I can see why sleep becomes the thing on your mind when you have a child. It is the deciding factor in how a day goes.

Kate just dropped down to 2 naps a day. She was on 3-4 (depending on their length) but after our vacation I was having such a hell of a time with bedtime. She was in that rough stage where if she didn’t get an evening nap she melted down, but if she did get one she was wired at bedtime. That was not an easy transition, but now we have had several days of 2 naps and they’ve been good – even when they are shorter than we would all prefer. I did figure out that in lieu of an evening nap she needs an evening nursing session in the dark: some down time with no stimulus so she gets a good meal in, a cuddle, and then she’s ready to go for the rest of the evening. Mostly I’m appreciating how easy it is to put her to sleep again. By 9pm she’s rubbing her eyes and starting to wind herself down. Going to bed is no longer the epic struggle it was. I am so thankful.

During that time of nap transition and new skills we ended up taking a step backward on the getting Kate to fall asleep on her own progression. The only way she’d fall asleep is if I held her wrapped in my arms tight, she’d screech a few times and then drop off. If I let her go she’d roll away and try climbing me or crawling away. But now? Now she wants to have her head pillowed on my arm, my arms wrapped around her, in order for her to fall asleep. Not that I mind the cuddles (I admit, I took a while to step back again, because I just love that time with her). So I’ve just been working with her on getting her sleepy and moving a couple inches away again. Some days she’s okay with it, other days she’s not.

Today for her first nap I hadn’t eaten breakfast and she was grabbing me hard when pulling up. After about 15 minutes of being pummeled I walked out of her bedroom and said to Den, “Switch!” I knew he couldn’t get her to sleep but I just needed a break while I grabbed some cereal to eat. 15 minutes later Den creeps out of the room – alone. “She fell asleep! Just put her head down and fell asleep!” He was so excited! I was rather stunned. First time she’s ever done that!

Tonight we had a hiccup in the guise of poopy butt after she went to bed, but after that was discovered and fixed she slept 3 hours. Now it’s 2am, I’m still awake and I can hear little sounds from her room – whimpers and “uhh”. Sometimes one short cry. Obviously she isn’t asleep. But I can’t figure out if she’s awake-awake or if she’s only semi-awake and falling back asleep. This has been going on for 20 minutes now. I generally only go in there if she actually cries. Guess I’m going to sit here for a while… I’m not going to lay down only to have her crying for me two minutes later! … 15 minutes later I think she put herself back to sleep! Holy smokes!