The Middle Chapters

Well, we're still working on the sleep thing. Prior to having the baby, I'd heard about the whole sleep deprivation thing, but I didn't take it seriously. I thought that if you were awake during the night, you simply sleep during the day. I like naps, so it sounded easy. The reality is that it's just not. I just can't seem to make up for missing a bunch of sleep at night during the day.

Sunday night, M was a dream baby. I fed her at 7:30, she went to bed at 8:00 and only woke up once during the night. Monday was great. We were all we well rested. The weather was great. We got more boxes unpacked and planted a (very) small vegetable garden. Monday night - very not good. I think I got 5 hours of poor quality sleep at most. But M took a great morning nap and I got a nap too. I treated myself to a sushi lunch. Overall it was a good day followed by a good bedtime and a long soak for me.

Last night was a medium sleep night. I only fed her once (she went from 6:30 to 3:00!) but she's having a long fussy/crying period starting at 3:00. She did this right after we brought her home from the hospital. I think it started around 1:00 am and took about a week to shift to normal wake up time.

She starting to fall asleep on her own really well. Since Monday (2 days ago), we've been having a morning walk, then play and food followed by a long morning nap. Today, I simply put her down for her nap, rather than my typical hold her while she sleeps, and she went right down. I've lost my early morning nap, but I think the family is doing better with this new schedule - especially the dog who likes the morning walk.

I think yesterday was the switch from napping better on me to napping better on her own. (Thanks L for telling me she thought that M would transition herself. I was feeling very guilty for the pleasure of holding her while she naps. Now that I think she sleeps better on her own, it's pretty easy to put her down - especially when I want to sleep during her morning nap.)

It has been amazing how much M has been growing up in the last few weeks. She seems so much more independent. She rolled over again yesterday. She has a favorite toy. She'll last forever in the Bjorn if I'm walking. She loves to look at people and animals. She's not the least afraid of strangers.

I think good sleep will come with introducing new good habits. One step was getting long naps on her own. Another is my willingness to go longer at night without feeding her. Last night was our first night of no re-swaddling. Once we get the crib from the old house, we need to get M into it. At some point, we also need to stop (or at least slow down) the use of the pacifier.

Everyone warned me that life after baby was a whole new thing. It really is. Sometimes I seriously want a break. But generally, it's a very cool thing.