Such is Life

    Yesterday Jr. and I went to Aqua Stroller. It went very well. I got a good work-out and Jr. wasn't alarmed by the experience as she was the first time. She didn't want to get in the water, but once we got in she was okay. It was kind of funny actually. One of the lifeguards had to help me put her in the floating device because she kept scrunching her legs up so her feet wouldn't touch the water. Anyhow, once we got home I gave her lunch and put her down for her nap. I didn't expect her to sleep long because lately her naps have been quite short. I was amazed when she woke up 2 1/2 hours later! Great, right? Mmmm... no. When I took her from her crib she was crying with big tears and she kept nuzzling into my arms. Normally I'd think this was because I went to her too soon. She needs time to wake up by herself in her crib. But after 2 1/2 hours? I'm wondering if maybe she overslept. 

    This whole sleep thing is driving me crazy. She wakes up anywhere from 1-3 times per night, which is a huge improvement. But we put her down to bed around 5:30pm. Doesn't that seem really early?? We've tried keeping her up until 6 or 7 but she's pretty miserable. When she goes to sleep at 5:30pm  she does so without so much as a whimper. Then she'll wake up around 10 for a feeding. That's fine I guess but I wonder if she could go to bed later she would only wake up once in the night?

    And the napping is beyond me. Dr. Weissbluth (apparently THE expert on sleep practices for babies) advises one nap somewhere between 9 and 10 am, the next one between 12pm and 2 and the last one, if needed, between 3 and 5. I try to stick to these "rules" but sometimes we're not home during those times or sometimes she goes down earlier or later and the last nap has been pretty much nixed because she won't sleep. He also recommends leaving them in their crib during those times for one hour, even if they're crying. So I do it. I put her down, give Jr. her soother and frog and leave. For the first 10-15 minutes she'll talk to herself and I can tell she's chewing on her frog. Eventually, she starts fussing and then crying. After about 30-45 minutes, she'll fall asleep only to stay sleeping for 30-40 minutes. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I feel like pulling out my hair and tossing Dr. Weissbluth's book in the garbage. 

    Just when I think I've accepted that my daughter isn't a text-book baby and that sometimes you just have to ignore the "do this or else your child will never sleep properly" mentality, I fall right back into it. Usually it's because something's not quite jiving and I think, There's gotta be something I can do about this.

     My husband and I have heard from many people that we should enjoy the "little" problems we have now. The bigger Jr. gets, the bigger problems we'll have to deal with. I think those people forgot what this stage really feels like. It's just like school. When you're in one grade, it feels so hard and you wish you had appreciated how "easy" the previous grade was, even though when you were in said level, you didn't think it was easy. Such is life.