Well, after a stressful week of Abby not sleeping well, my little girl is finally back! For reasons unknown (I'm guessing it was a combination of things happening all at once - a cold, starting solids, Daddy being gone, construction noise occuring in front of our house, separation anxiety, etc), all last week Abby had major difficulties sleeping. Only twice did she sleep more than 30 minutes straight for her naps during the entire week and she would scream for 30-45 minutes before almost every nap and at night. Plus, she woke up very early every morning, anywhere between 4:30 and 6:30am! Obviously, whatever set her off schedule ended up making her sleep-deprived, which made it harder for her to go to sleep and stay asleep, which made her more sleep-deprived....an endless cycle. Needless to say, it was a very tiring, stressful and crazy week for me. Then, for no apparent reason, this past Sunday night Abby went to sleep with barely a whimper and, thankfully, she is now completely back on track. I had no idea how much I was relying on those two-hour naps each day! I am so glad to have my little girl back to her normal self again! She is so much happier and well-rested...which means that her Mommy is now happy and well-rested too. =)
Anyway, although we spent most of the week at home, we did get out a few times. On Saturday, Abby and I went with my parents and my youngest nephews to downtown Olympia for the Wooden Boat Festival. It wasn't terribly fun, but it was nice change of scenery I guess. The weather was cold and windy (thankfully it didn't start raining until right before we got back to our cars). We were too late for the boys to get to build their boats with scrapwood (an activity they'd done other years). But it was fun to see Abby's reaction to the event. She was quiet as usual, busy taking it all in. We began to notice, though, that whenever we passed a dog, she would start kicking her legs back and forth in excitement. It was really cute. When Daddy heard, he said that someday he and Abby would have to get a puppy...hmmmm...
Ted, Sara, Abby and Donny at the Wooden Boat Festival
My precious little daughter (with Grandma's help) was handing me a Mother's Day gift - a bag of M&M's (my favorite candy!). It was so cute how she actually tried to hold it out toward me. But, overall, it wasn't much of a Mother's Day. My own poor mother ended up staying most of the day trying to help with the very cranky Abby and let me try to get a nap in. With the crazy week I'd had, I didn't even get my mom or Kevin's mom a card or anything. All in all, I was just thankful for the day to be over and I was elated to collapse into bed when Abby actually went to sleep for the night with only minor fussing. It's amazing the stress and exhaustion that one little girl can cause!
Now, Abby is doing great. Today she was just about perfect. It was so wonderful to get to enjoy her and have fun with her....and get a few breaks when she took naps too! =) We even went to Wednesday evening church, which we don't always make it to. Abby was hilarious at church. She made all kinds of noise (happy ones) and wouldn't quit squirming! At one point I started getting up to take her out, thinking that she was probably being too loud, and our pastor stopped mid-sentence and said, "You don't have to take her out. She's not bothering us if she's not bothering you." So, I sat back down and Abby continued to growl and squeal and squirm away! It's so neat to go to a small church where family is important.
And now I should get to bed before I make myself sleep-deprived again! =)
1 comment:
Yes, I agree. Sleepy babies are grouchy babies.
If you haven't already, I would check out, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby." It sounds like you already know the importance of sleep, but the book explains sleep cylces and give interesting stats and hints too. I found it extremely helpful with Mandy who is not a good napper, a light sleeper, and laughs at schedules (so much for Baby Wise).
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