This month has been... rough. As compared to the other months, anyway, because in truth she still remains a pretty easy kid. But this is the month she decided to become a truly troubled sleeper. I've dug out our old sleep books and scoured the internets for advice. She wakes up every two to three hours (at best) looking to eat or be rocked back to sleep.
Prior to leaving for Puerto Rico we started working on getting her to sleep on her own, and mostly failed. But any progress we made we lost while we were travelling because we had to be respectful of neighboring travelers (thus we had to swiftly soothe her instead of letting her figure it out).
Supposedly it's that whole object permanence thing.... she suddenly realizes that I exist when she wakes up and wants me back. I never worried about rocking her to sleep because, honestly, I enjoy it so much. So why make it an issue if we were both enjoying it? But I enjoyed it when it was once, twice, or three times a night. More than that and I no longer enjoy it.
Since our return she has been a total mess. Fussy and crying all. the. time. I think the kid is just exhausted. We've started doing some cry it out, because I don't know what else to do. I'm exhausted. She's exhausted. And, truth be told, she is now sleeping longer stretches (5 hours at times), thus making a very strong case for cry it out. Sorry kid, we tried gentler approaches but you just weren't having it.
Apart from the last couple days, though, she is generally a super happy kid during the day. The number one thing that strangers comment on is how happy she is. She's all smiles, all the time. In the past week she has discovered how to shriek and has started truly interacting with her sister. Lucky thing MJ loves to entertain, because Greta loves to be entertained by her. They sit in the backseat with MJ making weird sounds and Greta laughing hysterically.
I won't be surprised if this kid walks before she can crawl. She has started to spin around a bit when placed on her belly, but still wants nothing to do with being on her belly. She would be happy to have me hold her on her feet all day long and loves trying to take steps. She has discovered not to let go of me yet, though, after a few tumbles.
She has also become a stomach sleeper, which is something MJ never did and therefore decidedly disconcerting for me. At this point, though, I'm willing to try anything that helps her sleep better.
I love this little girl, and just can't get enough of her during the day. I could do with a little less of her at night. If we can get this sleep thing figured out then the sun will shine a bit brighter around here.
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