My Daughter is at War with Sleep

And Kylie is winning.  Mornings start out wonderfully.  She wakes up about 7 and gives me about 20 minutes of lounging in my bed half awake before she actually wants up.  I then go over to her crib where she greets me with a huge toothless grin.  I scoop her up into my arms and she buries her face into the side of my neck, and then promptly pulls away and smiles at me again.  I put her down on her changing table and she starts kicking her little legs happily and tells me about her night.  I change her diaper and she continues to talk and blow raspberries at me, happy as a clam.  I scoop her up again and we have time to put the chihuahuas out for their morning constitutionals, get me a drink of OJ, and then give grandma and grandpa huge, beaming smiles. 

We then go back to our room and she gets to eat as I check my favorite blogs on my phone.  Kylie will occasionally pull away from the boob and smile up at me and then tuck back in to her breakfast.  Like she's not really hungry, but if mommy wants her to eat, she will.  And she will be incredibly cute while doing so.  Then comes the time in the morning where I can get the most stuff done because Kylie will behave if she is not on my person.  I can set her in her swing with one of her toys and she will talk and kick and be merry basically.  I'll blog, work on schoolwork, or work on making headbands for my new Etsy business (which I will soon make a post about, squeee!).  Though I do admit, some mornings I will just stay in bed and cuddle with her and the chihuahuas, enjoying the quiet moments with her.

The morning never lasts though.  Usually after her third feeding of the day, she starts to get tired and I'll put her down for her first nap.  For this one she gets a little fussy, but not too bad.  She will usually sleep for about 30-40 minutes, so this is when I'll take a shower, get dressed, and put on some make up if I feel really froggy.  She wakes up and then we'll play some and eat some and so forth.  Then comes the afternoon nap, which is a much crankier nap.  It'll take her about 15-20 minutes of fussing before she will actually sleep.  Sometimes there is crying involved with this one. 

And then comes nighttime.  The smiles start becoming frowns and giggles start turning into fussing and crying.  I'll usually try to take her for a walk outside at dusk because no matter what, she does not cry outside and I'll get about 20 minutes of morning Kylie again.  I'll make dinner and usually have her in the Moby Wrap, so I can dance and sing to keep her occupied.  And I'll explain how to make food in hopes that she will turn out to be a better cook than me.  Then Rex and I will eat dinner and watch some tv as I feed Kylie.  I seriously think that I have only eaten one dinner without breastfeeding during it since she was born.  Then comes the really enjoyable part of the night.  She starts getting super cranky and fussy.  But it's only 6 or so, so I can't put her to bed unless I want to wake up a 3.  She tends to cluster feed right before bedtime, or topping off her tanks as I like to call it.  Every other night she has a bath, which she absolutely loves, especially since she has learned that splashing water in mama's face is the most fun in the world.  Then she gets her little baby massage as I put her lotion on, and then gets her last feeding of the night.  By the end of the feeding she is pretty drowsy, so I burp her and then we read Good Night Moon together. 

Then comes the battle with sleep.  I'll set her in her crib and turn on her little Baby Einstein ocean sounds thing-a-ma-bob with the little moving fishies and kiss her good night.  It takes her about 15 seconds to realize what's going on and then the screaming commences.  Yeah, she goes straight for the jugular.  Just screws up her face and lets 'er rip.  And stomps one foot, which makes this thumping sound on the mattress.  And will cry so hard she's gasping for air between each wail.  And this is no matter where she is.  In the crib or in our arms when we just can't take it anymore.  Every once in a while she'll stop, but then remember she doesn't want to go to bed and starts all over again.  Last night she did this for an hour. 

I know she's about old enough that we can just let her cry it out and soothe herself, but we just can't quite bring ourselves to do it.  And I make sure to keep her routine the same too like everyone says but its just not cutting it right now.  Luckily once she's out she is out.  That I am super thankful for.  So please God have mercy on me at bedtime.

So don't let these big ol' blue eyes fool you.  Remember Kylie 1 Sleep 0.