I'm Feeling Much Better Now

OK. I may break one promise. This post isn't going to be as "Grrr" as I thought it would be.

Last week, the girls and I went to visit my parents. It was a great visit. Oddly, it's always hard for me to leave. Even with all of my parents' little idiosyncrasies, I really enjoy spending so much time with them.

It's a pretty good time of year to visit my parents. Every year Mr. S takes part in a production put on by the Bar of the Big City. Last week while I was visiting my parents, he was having rehearsals every night and not getting home until 10. Saturday and Sunday he had rehearsals all day. This week he has rehearsals until late at night and the show starting tonight and ending Saturday night. All of that means we see him for breakfast each day and that's about it.

We headed for my parents' house after lunch on Monday. With it being close to a 3 hour drive, I was a little concerned about how Sparkle would be on the trip. The girl really doesn't like to be in the car for more than about 30-45 minutes. Whether it was luck, divine intervention or good timing, she slept for almost 2 hours of the drive. Hooray!

Sleeping at my parents' house was a different matter. Sparkle does not like the pack 'n play. Really. Really. Also, since she's so limber and quite the little monkey, she climbed out of it in no time. When she demonstrated her ability, I decided I needed to stay in the room with her to keep her from climbing out until she fell asleep. Ugh. The first night, this was a 2 hour task. She just stood in the pack 'n play wanting out and crying.

The second night, it was only a 30 minute job. I thought, "All right! I can do that." Then she woke up twice that night which meant that I had to repeat the process to get her back to sleep each time. I napped the next day.

The rest of the time, she continued to require close to 30 minutes at bed time and woke up at least once a night as well as not napping during the day. Now, there are those out there who can testify to how cranky I get when I'm tired. I must get my 8 hours. Night after night, of interrupted sleep only builds the crankiness.

We returned home on Saturday afternoon. It WAS nice to be in my own bed and to have Sparkle back in her bed. I slept really well. Sunday afternoon, Sparkle decided that it was just as easy to climb out of her crib as it was to climb out of the pack 'n play. The only difference is that the crib is a 3 foot drop. Sunday night, Mr. S got to follow the routine I did at my parents' house and stayed in Sparkle's room until she fell asleep. Again, in the middle of the night, Sparkle woke up and was awake for a couple of hours. All told, I got about 5 hours of sleep Sunday night.

Monday morning, Mr. S converted the crib to a toddler bed. I felt so unready. I was NOT looking forward to being the only one putting her down for naps and night times every night this week with her freshly in a toddler bed. UGH! That's actually quite tame compared to what I said.

Monday night, she climbed into her bed. We read a couple of books and turned out the light. Then I sat in her floor for an hour to keep her from climbing out. After that hour, when she was still awake, I thought "What is wrong with me? Poor Twinkle has been sitting by herself for an hour. That's so unfair to her." I got up and left Sparkle's room. She cried for about 3 minutes and stopped and slept all night.

I also slept all night. Tuesday I was thinking much more clearly. I decided that her room is baby-proofed, what does it matter if she gets out of her bed? The reason for keeping her in her bed was to keep her from falling 3 feet from the side of her crib. At this point, I'm thinking of her entire room as her bed.

Tuesday at nap time, we read a couple of stories and I left her in her bed. I realized it's OK if she gets out of her bed. Why should I worry about her getting up? She can't get out of her room. It's OK! (This is a sure sign that the meds are working) She did get up and play in her room for about 30 minutes, but then she got quiet. I couldn't resist checking on her. I peeked in and she was indeed asleep. Not in her bed, but in her rocking chair. Hey, whatever works.

Tuesday night, I don't know if she got out of her bed, I don't know where she slept, but she slept all night. And I slept all night.

I'm crossing my fingers that this will continue. It would be quite nice. Mr. S and I were talking on Monday trying to remember what we did with Twinkle when we switched her to the toddler bed. I still can't remember, but this seems to be working for Sparkle...for now.