I have a draft of a post about how darling my 18 month old is. Last night I was uploading beautiful pictures of her and was going to write a whole host of nice things. Instead, this post might take a different tone. We have had some rough nights and mornings around here.
Most nights, we fall asleep with her, transfer her to her bed. Invariably, at some point in the night, she wakes up -- sees us on top of our airbed a mere 2 feet away. She stands up, walks over to me, and taps the bed saying "Up, up" until someone picks her up.
(Needless to say, we are greatly looking forward to getting more established somewhere and not having the same living/sleeping arrangements. Turns out it's really hard to keep a baby out of your bed when your bed is RIGHT next to theirs and they watch you sleep.)
This is how it goes from that point:
If you let Greta in your bed...
She would like to be spooned. Which is kinda sweet, right?
But she will also demand that no blanket touch her body.
(*Unless* she is a little bit cold. Then she would like a blanket covering her freezing toes until they warm up. At which point all blankets must be removed and none must make any contact with her.)
In her anxiousness to clear the space of all blankets, she may remove your blankets as well. Which you have to readjust very carefully so they cover you, do not cover all 32" tall of her, and still reach over to your spouse on the other side. It's an interesting U-formation that has to be very carefully done.
She will then realize that the very bottom of your pillow grazes the very top of her head. Which is unacceptable and she will fight until appropriate arrangements are made.
She will then require some back-rubbing and kisses to start to fall asleep.
At which point, she will roll over to now face you. (You, of course, being mom. Because mom is the one true person to sleep with.)
As she rolls over, she will roll over crashing into you. She would like to sleep exactly in your space where you have been sleeping. You must scoot over to allow her to do this. If you simply put her back in the middle of the bed in her new position, she will cry and scream. a lot. So you give in and roll over to the edge of the bed.
At this point, your spouse may say, "Greta, stop being a bully." Or your spouse may alternately quip, "Greta, you will make a very good wife someday," indicating her bed-takeover skills are already top-notch.
As she now faces you (while you sleep in a small space on the edge of the bed), she would still like to make contact and snuggle with you. But she will run into your blankets. So she will kick and push you away, angry at the existence of blankets on a bed.
As she flails and cries out and her little legs go flying into your face, you will scoot farther off the bed, while angrily muttering, "You have to be nice if you want to be in this bed."
She will still be unable to relax and will continue to be bothered by... we're not really sure.
So you will pick up all your blankets and move to the other side of her to allow her the open space she needs. Keep in mind it is 5am.
As you are now safely on the other side, with all blankets, and she has nothing touching her and a large radius of space, she will realize she is perhaps still uncomfortable. She may want to be spooned again.
She may want to have her back rubbed, which she will indicate by pointing to her back and tapping.
She will almost be asleep, until she starts talking. And scooting over until she finds you again.
At which point she will realize you have a pillow. Which she is again angry at, and bats it away until you move it or remove it entirely.
But she may decide the idea of a pillow sounds nice, and she will come steal said pillow and park her head on it. So you will give her your pillow, cursing her name. You will steal your spouse's pillow, who has now left the bed.
At some point, she may drift back to sleep.
You may not. Or you may for awhile.
Eventually you've decided she is asleep enough to move her to her own bed.
She will make the transition just fine.
For 10 minutes.
Until a little voice starts whimpering. A little dark head of hair will stand up, make it's way over to the bed, start poking and tapping.... etc etc.
Repeat until daylight.
At which point she wakes up, smiling, laughing, and somewhat resembling this child:
Most nights, we fall asleep with her, transfer her to her bed. Invariably, at some point in the night, she wakes up -- sees us on top of our airbed a mere 2 feet away. She stands up, walks over to me, and taps the bed saying "Up, up" until someone picks her up.
(Needless to say, we are greatly looking forward to getting more established somewhere and not having the same living/sleeping arrangements. Turns out it's really hard to keep a baby out of your bed when your bed is RIGHT next to theirs and they watch you sleep.)
This is how it goes from that point:
If you let Greta in your bed...
She would like to be spooned. Which is kinda sweet, right?
But she will also demand that no blanket touch her body.
(*Unless* she is a little bit cold. Then she would like a blanket covering her freezing toes until they warm up. At which point all blankets must be removed and none must make any contact with her.)
In her anxiousness to clear the space of all blankets, she may remove your blankets as well. Which you have to readjust very carefully so they cover you, do not cover all 32" tall of her, and still reach over to your spouse on the other side. It's an interesting U-formation that has to be very carefully done.
She will then realize that the very bottom of your pillow grazes the very top of her head. Which is unacceptable and she will fight until appropriate arrangements are made.
She will then require some back-rubbing and kisses to start to fall asleep.
At which point, she will roll over to now face you. (You, of course, being mom. Because mom is the one true person to sleep with.)
As she rolls over, she will roll over crashing into you. She would like to sleep exactly in your space where you have been sleeping. You must scoot over to allow her to do this. If you simply put her back in the middle of the bed in her new position, she will cry and scream. a lot. So you give in and roll over to the edge of the bed.
At this point, your spouse may say, "Greta, stop being a bully." Or your spouse may alternately quip, "Greta, you will make a very good wife someday," indicating her bed-takeover skills are already top-notch.
As she now faces you (while you sleep in a small space on the edge of the bed), she would still like to make contact and snuggle with you. But she will run into your blankets. So she will kick and push you away, angry at the existence of blankets on a bed.
As she flails and cries out and her little legs go flying into your face, you will scoot farther off the bed, while angrily muttering, "You have to be nice if you want to be in this bed."
She will still be unable to relax and will continue to be bothered by... we're not really sure.
So you will pick up all your blankets and move to the other side of her to allow her the open space she needs. Keep in mind it is 5am.
As you are now safely on the other side, with all blankets, and she has nothing touching her and a large radius of space, she will realize she is perhaps still uncomfortable. She may want to be spooned again.
She may want to have her back rubbed, which she will indicate by pointing to her back and tapping.
She will almost be asleep, until she starts talking. And scooting over until she finds you again.
At which point she will realize you have a pillow. Which she is again angry at, and bats it away until you move it or remove it entirely.
But she may decide the idea of a pillow sounds nice, and she will come steal said pillow and park her head on it. So you will give her your pillow, cursing her name. You will steal your spouse's pillow, who has now left the bed.
At some point, she may drift back to sleep.
You may not. Or you may for awhile.
Eventually you've decided she is asleep enough to move her to her own bed.
She will make the transition just fine.
For 10 minutes.
Until a little voice starts whimpering. A little dark head of hair will stand up, make it's way over to the bed, start poking and tapping.... etc etc.
Repeat until daylight.
At which point she wakes up, smiling, laughing, and somewhat resembling this child:
...which is precisely how she'll make it through another day.
At least her hair doesn't need to be restrained to share a bed with her.
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