Battle of the bed.
There for a while Amelia was pretty good about going to bed at a decent time. But somehow she's reverted to her old habits of fighting sleep with all her might. More than anything it seems she does not want to sleep alone. She can't be without mommy and daddy at night.
When I came home from Great Lakes Sunday night I found Amelia curled up and asleep on daddy's lap. She looked sweet as could be, but when time came to put her in her crib she fussed and cried. I held her and played with her, I sang her songs, and she would be great until I tried to put her down - then the waterworks would start. In fact, when I hold her on my lap at night she'll fuss and fuss for another "book" until all her stories are read. If she really doesn't want to sleep she'll grab my hand in the dark and put it back around her waist if I attempt to move it as if to pick her up and move her to her crib.
She was the same way when we first brought her home from the hospital.
This morning Amelia woke up and fussed a bit at 6:30 in the morning. Daddy went to check on her, with the best of intentions, but as soon as Amelia saw daddy it was all over. She simply refused to go back to bed. After several minutes of crying accompanied by "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy..." we thought we'd let her try to sleep with us. Mike brought her into our room and she was the happiest girl in the world. She wouldn't stop grinning. She would look back and forth at daddy and mommy counting, "one, two...one, two." Then she started wiggling and squirming. Eventually she started standing on the bed between us and then falling down on her butt saying, "boing!" or something to that effect.
So none of us have had much sleep. Around one this afternoon Amelia started asking to go outside. I realized that this was often toddler code for "I'm sleepy" but dressed her for the cold weather anyway. We went outside for a bit, but I think she was too cold to have much fun. At one point she became irritated because she didn't think she could pick up a leaf with her mittens on so she rubbed one of them off. After removing her mitten and feeling the frozen, snowy ground she actually brought the mitten to mommy with a gesture that definately meant, "Could you please put this back on, mommy?"
Back in the house I asked Amelia if she was sleepy. Her response was, of course, "No." So I asked her if she wanted to go to the store with mommy. We got in the car and headed off to Target. After leaving a short message on daddy's phone I became suspicious at the silence in the car. Amelia was fast asleep in the back seat. Oh well. I certainly wasn't going to wake her up just to go to Target. Instead, I went through the drive through at Starbuck's and headed home.
Carrying Amelia in the house she could not seem to open her eyes. I pulled off her shoes, hat and mittens and took her up stairs. As soon as I put her in her crib she stood up and cried. I waved good-bye and headed downstairs. She screamed (yes, she's screaming now if she isn't happy) for less than five minutes and fell fast asleep.
I guess we're going to have to get tough with Amelia again when it comes to bed time. It's not easy when you love a little girl and you don't want her to be mad. But I guess being mad is a big part of a toddler's life. We just need to choose a deadline by which she should be in bed...like ten o'clock. Then leave and not cave in to the cries of "mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, daddy, mommy." Wish us luck.
Lisa
When I came home from Great Lakes Sunday night I found Amelia curled up and asleep on daddy's lap. She looked sweet as could be, but when time came to put her in her crib she fussed and cried. I held her and played with her, I sang her songs, and she would be great until I tried to put her down - then the waterworks would start. In fact, when I hold her on my lap at night she'll fuss and fuss for another "book" until all her stories are read. If she really doesn't want to sleep she'll grab my hand in the dark and put it back around her waist if I attempt to move it as if to pick her up and move her to her crib.
She was the same way when we first brought her home from the hospital.
This morning Amelia woke up and fussed a bit at 6:30 in the morning. Daddy went to check on her, with the best of intentions, but as soon as Amelia saw daddy it was all over. She simply refused to go back to bed. After several minutes of crying accompanied by "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy..." we thought we'd let her try to sleep with us. Mike brought her into our room and she was the happiest girl in the world. She wouldn't stop grinning. She would look back and forth at daddy and mommy counting, "one, two...one, two." Then she started wiggling and squirming. Eventually she started standing on the bed between us and then falling down on her butt saying, "boing!" or something to that effect.
So none of us have had much sleep. Around one this afternoon Amelia started asking to go outside. I realized that this was often toddler code for "I'm sleepy" but dressed her for the cold weather anyway. We went outside for a bit, but I think she was too cold to have much fun. At one point she became irritated because she didn't think she could pick up a leaf with her mittens on so she rubbed one of them off. After removing her mitten and feeling the frozen, snowy ground she actually brought the mitten to mommy with a gesture that definately meant, "Could you please put this back on, mommy?"
Back in the house I asked Amelia if she was sleepy. Her response was, of course, "No." So I asked her if she wanted to go to the store with mommy. We got in the car and headed off to Target. After leaving a short message on daddy's phone I became suspicious at the silence in the car. Amelia was fast asleep in the back seat. Oh well. I certainly wasn't going to wake her up just to go to Target. Instead, I went through the drive through at Starbuck's and headed home.
Carrying Amelia in the house she could not seem to open her eyes. I pulled off her shoes, hat and mittens and took her up stairs. As soon as I put her in her crib she stood up and cried. I waved good-bye and headed downstairs. She screamed (yes, she's screaming now if she isn't happy) for less than five minutes and fell fast asleep.
I guess we're going to have to get tough with Amelia again when it comes to bed time. It's not easy when you love a little girl and you don't want her to be mad. But I guess being mad is a big part of a toddler's life. We just need to choose a deadline by which she should be in bed...like ten o'clock. Then leave and not cave in to the cries of "mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, daddy, mommy." Wish us luck.
Lisa
posted by Lisa, Mike, Amelia, and Diana at 11:01 AM
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