Naptime

Dear Hazel,
I just put you down for your afternoon nap, and thought I should write this before you wake up again in... oh, 10 minutes. That's pretty much been the way you've rolled these last couple of days. I don't know why... I'm still learning the mothering thing. I can tell you that you LURVE the white noise we've got going in your room, courtesy of Uncle Creig. And as a result, I LURVE it too. And possibly your Uncle Creig just a leetle bit more.

Last night, you slept 6.5 hours. IN A ROW. Which, frankly, is unheard of with you. Especially the last two days. I guess that your dad and I are going to have to succumb to a few facts with you.

1 - You will sleep like the dead during your morning naps and will be harder to wake up than a hibernating bear.
2 - As a result, you will not take longer than 20 minute naps anytime after 3 p.m.
3 - You WILL lose your mind every day at 5 p.m. Or, in the case of yesterday, 4:15. Even if you are looking content and happy, once that clock hits 5 p.m., it's every man for himself. You want to fuss and you WILL fuss. No matter what we say or do to calm you down. It just is.
4 - If we take you out at night and you sleep in your car seat until we get back home, we better gird our loins as the rest of the night WILL be pure hell. And honestly, that should teach us. You are soooo not okay with leaving the house after 5 p.m. Because 5 p.m. is the witching hour and you like to Witch in the privacy of your own home, and do NOT like it put off by us tricking you into sleeping.
5 - Bath time will be worked into your evening routine, or there will be hell to pay. It appears that a warm bath is the only way to calm you down once you get going. I can tell when you've finally relaxed because your fists are not as tightly clenched. Oh, they're still clenched, but your knuckles are no longer white.

Tuesday night, I screwed up with you. BIG TIME. Because I'd been cooped up in the house with you all day, and pretty much told your dad that the dinner he was going to which would welcome the new board members of this foundation that he was selected to... well, you and I would be going with him. Unless he wanted a dirty diaper shoved down his throat in the middle of the night.

So, we bundled you up in the car seat at about 5 p.m., and I drove around town to get you sleeping, and then at 6, we hit the dinner.

You slept the entire time, and at about 7:30, I decided that we should probably get you home lest you wake up and ruin the other board member's dinner with one of your bone melting shrieks.

Once we got home and got you fed... well, that's when the fireworks started. Your Daddy spent an hour asleep with you on the chair in the living room and that seemed to work. But after your 10:30 feeding, there was no talking sense to you about crazy things like it BEING MIDNIGHT AND YOU NEEDING TO GO TO SLEEP! Was. Not. Happening.

So, I ended up sleeping in the nursery with you on my chest all night long. And while you seem to thrive with that kind of situation... it's no bueno for mommy. On Wednesday, I was an absolute wreck and was pretty much on the verge of tears all day. Not from anything you did... but just from fatigue and frustration.

Your dad and I have been looking at your sleep patterns and determined that you were getting too much sleep in the mornings, which is why it was hard for you to sleep more than 20 minutes at a time in the evenings... and why mommy was starting to get black circles under her eyes... from punching herself in the face.

So, the plan was that I would try and keep you awake so that you were only sleeping an hour each cycle.

Boy did THAT plan backfire. I don't know if you've ever been more tired in your short life... but by 9:30, you'd only slept 5 hours during the day. You did NOT catch up on sleep in the afternoon... but instead, did your usual catnaps. And, again... the only thing that soothed you was a nice warm bath at 10 p.m.. After that, daddy rocked you for a few minutes and you were OUT. For SIX-AND-A-HALF HOURS!

NEW RULE: You will ALWAYS have a bath at night. And mommy will stop trying to manipulate your natural sleep cycles. Because she's not God and she needs to remember that although you're only 5 weeks old, you're in charge here. And if you want to fall asleep in the bouncer, WHO CARES? You're asleep!!! And a rested baby is - we dearly hope - a happy baby.

If only you were as happy in the evenings are you are during the rest of the day. I keep hoping that what everyone tells me is true: This, too, shall pass. And I'm not ruining you by letting you fall asleep occasionally in the swing or the bouncer or the car seat. That at 5 weeks old, you're way too young for bad habits to form that can't easily be broken.

All I know is that if we could keep you on this kind of cycle, where you're feeding every three hours... starting to work from home part-time next week will be a walk in the park. Of course, as I say that, I'm also knocking on wood because as I'm quickly learning, the only constant with you is that there IS NO CONSTANT.

Other than you being adorable from 6 a.m.-5 p.m..

Alright... I've got some laundry to fold that I couldn't get to yesterday as you were busy trying to bring down the roof with your screams. Better get to it while I can!

Love,
Mama