Last Night

Thank you to everybody who commented and emailed me. I so appreciate everybody's advice on yesterday's blog post.

Last night Josh had a softball game at 9:30 so he had to leave at 8:00 for practice. Who else thinks that was just a little too convenient that he had to leave right before I started the bedtime battle? I digress...So, I was left to the battle alone. Although Josh had tried the technique where you sit on the floor while they try to go to sleep, I hadn't. I decided to give it a shot since I have tried everything else in the book. I swayed her for a few minutes and then sat on the floor without looking at her or talking to her. TORTURE! Do you know how hard it is to sit two feet away from your baby girl while she screams and then says "Mama Mama Mama" for twenty minutes? I thought I did pretty darn good for waiting it out for that long. Unfortunately her music cut off so I had to get up to turn that back on and she became hysterical. So instead of picking her up, I just hugged her while she was still standing in the crib and patted her back to calm her. Once she was calm, I laid her back down and left the room.

She still screamed on and off for another 30 minutes. Then she sat down. And after another 10 minutes, the unthinkable happened. She FELL ASLEEP!

Although it still took an hour, I feel a small victory because I didn't rock her or sway her to sleep. She put herself to sleep. In my mommy handbook, that equals success! And to top it off, she didn't wake up at all during the night.

A Little Help From My Friends

At first I thought it was because she was sick and then I attributed it to teething. But after almost 2 weeks, I'm thinking I need some help/advice from my friends...What do I do when she won't go to sleep and once she finally gets to sleep, she won't stay asleep?

Last night for example, I started at 8:45 trying to get her to go to sleep. All I used to have to do was turn off the lights, turn on the music, sway her for 20 seconds and put her down and she'd drift off to sleep. NOT ANYMORE! I do that and walk away and before I can get out the door, she is standing up in her crib screaming. We've tried to let her "cry it out" and it does nothing. Last night we let her cry for 20 minutes and then went up and swayed her for a few minutes and then put her back down. Of course she screamed and we let her cry for 10 minutes that time. Then I went up and just swayed her until she was asleep enough to when I put her down (almost 10:15 by this time), she didn't wake up. Not only are my arms and back sore from swaying a 24 pound person for 20 minutes, but she woke up at 2:00 again anyways! She was up from 2:00-4:00. This happens often now.

Advice? Even if you don't have a blog, you can still leave a comment under "anonymous"...just put your name at the end of your comment so I know who it's from.

My Little Firecracker takes on the Firestation

Emma is feeling better but we had a tough time getting her to sleep last night and then she woke up early. I figured out yesterday that she is cutting another two teeth so I think that is really contributing to her not sleeping as well. I'll give her some Motrin tonight and hopefully that will ease the pain enough for her to sleep soundly.

On the bright side, Emma's rash is all better now so we were able to go to our playgroup today. This week we all went to the fire station! Needless to say, Emma loved it!

On the front of the truck:


In reality, this is a step on the truck for the firemen. But to Emma, it was the perfect little seat:



Eli and Emma:



It seems like Colton and Eli are looking at Emma and thinking, "Really Emma - do you have to always be so peppy?"


Trying her hardest to reach the bell on the front of the truck:


In the front seat:


Getting lost in the boots:



Pulling on something and loving it:


Playing with Eli:


Group shots:



Then one with me and my little fire cracker:


She had a great time and laughed and smiled the whole way through. Afterward, we went to the park and all had a picnic. We headed home a little early because I could tell she was fading from waking up early. She's down for a nap now and I hope it's a good one!

Happy Birthday Jaime!

Tonight we celebrated Jaime's birthday at my house. It was so much fun and I think all of us needed this time to relax and let go.

I made Panko-Crusted Chicken with Cherry Tomato sauce and some sweet potato fries. I was going to make green beans too but I ran out of time. I meant to make a picture of the food but we were all so hungry that we just started eating. It wasn't until after our plates were clean that I realized I forgot to take a picture. Emma especially enjoyed the sweet potato fries!

Before everybody got here, Emma was in the kitchen with me "helping." Really she was distracting me. She found a new game that she loves. She sits at our desk chair that rolls and she wants me to push her around. Here are two photos:



Here is a picture of the cake I made - Chocolate Praline Cake which is a recipe of my mom's.


The birthday girl!


Blowing out the candles


It was a good time and I even had a mystery guest make an appearance! A manager that we used to work with was in town and he came by to say hello. Good to see you, Jim!

On the Upswing

I think Emma is finally getting better. She slept all night long which was amazing! Her rash is almost gone and I can tell she feels so much better. I'm so happy that she will be better in time for our playgroup tomorrow. It's so hard on both of us being confined to the house all day.

Tonight I'm having Jaime and Emily over to celebrate Jaime's 33rd birthday! Happy Birthday Jaime!! Since Emma allowed me to sleep all night long, I felt invigorated this morning and actually baked her birthday cake before 8:45 am. I am totally on the ball. Let's hope my cooking dinner goes just as smoothly!

Sleep

Sleep is something that everybody takes for granted...until your sleep is taken away. Then you realize how much you miss it and how wonderful it used to be. Emma's spots are getting better as the day goes on. But the battle for sleep during the night continues.

She woke up at 2:45 last night and I could NOT get her to go back to sleep. She was wide awake but at the same time, it was evident how tired she was. We rocked, we swayed, we watched a Mickey Mouse, we watched a few other shows, we sat in silence and in the dark, I laid on the floor with her, I laid in the extra bedroom with her, I gave her some water, I offered her food...this child was not feeling any of it. It was like she couldn't get comfortable. She'd sit one way and then roll all over me. Finally, I stood up and held her while we swayed and I hummed and she drifted off to sleep. The whole process took a little over 3 hours. When I woke up this morning, I felt like I had wrestled an alligator. Seriously, my back and arms are so soar. It was as if I had a 3 hour aerobic workout session! And then of course once I finally had her asleep, it took me a good hour or so to get myself to sleep. Such a long night!

On the bright side, she was in a terrific mood when she woke up this morning at 8:20. I don't know how she was in such a good mood after being awake half the night...she didn't get that happy morning demeanor from me, that's for sure! I am just thankful that her spots are starting to clear up. I'm hoping that will lead to a better night sleep tonight for all of us.

Seeing Spots

On Friday, Emma came down with a fever of 101.5 followed by a terrible rash all over her body that looked like little red spots and splotches. The nurse said that since she wasn't scratching, picking at or being phased by the spots that we could wait a day or two and see the progression.

I thought she was getting better by Saturday night because the spots had faded everywhere except her face. On the downside though she was extremely fussy and clingy the entire day. I honestly think it was the fussiest she has ever been in her life. In addition, it was torture trying to get her to go to sleep at nights. Usually we sway her for about 20 seconds and lay her down and she drifts off to sleep. Unfortunately, all weekend it took me over an hour each night for her to finally go to sleep. Every time I ended up just rocking her until she finally fell asleep.

Then late in the afternoon on Sunday the spots came back in full force and she ran a low fever. The rash was all over her body again!

I took her to the doctor today and they took a throat swab and some blood to rule out strep throat. The test and her blood work all came back fine, so he ruled it a viral rash. I thought it might be Roseola at first because a few kids at Mother's Day Out had gotten it. But the doctor said that since she had fever coupled with the rash and spots the whole time, then he could rule that out (with Roseola it starts with a high fever and then it goes away and the rash then appears). There isn't anything we can really do for her except wait it out and give her some Tylenol or some Benedryl. If it isn't better by Thursday, we'll go back.

Josh was hunting this weekend, so it was a very long weekend for me and Emma. Here's praying for a low key rest of the week.