Ellie’s nap situation is getting out of hand. I’ve completely lost control. I didn’t have much to begin with, but what little control I did have is completely gone. Every day I live in fear. Once 12:30pm rolls around I become anxious and uneasy. I start trying to think of excuses to leave the house so I won’t have to try to put her down for a nap. I’ve started to realize that maybe I’m a softie. Maybe I need to be more aggressive. Maybe I’m a bit of a pushover. But it all stops now. It’s time to take my gloves off and deal with this head on, face to face. Starting tomorrow on “Monday… Monday … Monday,” Ellie vs. Dad in a no-holds-barred five-day shake down. Only one will be left standing.
It’s the same old story. Ellie doesn’t nap well at all. This is not new information. But I’ve realized over the past few weeks that it’s been a long time since she’s had a normal nap in her crib. This is not good. I most often go for a drive which puts her to sleep. I’ll then tip-toe up the stairs with her still in her car seat. I’ll hold my breath while I set the car seat down and turn the monitor on. And then I disappear into the silence and make my way downstairs. It’s never a guaranteed nap, but it’s my best shot. I’ve realized I’ve been cheating the system. She’s going to outgrow that car seat, and soon, and then I’ll be stuck.
I knew it was going to be an interesting day when Ellie woke up earlier than usual. And not only earlier, but cranky. And not just cranky. Crying, twitching, fussy, whining. It never fails that when she has a rough day, it happens to be on a day I feel particularly tired and worn out. However, I still had hope that I could turn that frown upside down. But when she barely took her morning bottle and whine-ily squirmed off my lap, my hopes started to fade. Continue reading “RTF IS BACK, WITH A VENGEANCE”→
Ellie started showing symptoms of a cold on Friday. We weren’t overly concerned because she didn’t have a fever and her spirits were still just as usual. Well, as the weekend progressed, so did her cold making it an interesting Monday. Continue reading “KISS, A COLD, AND SOME CRACK”→
 I think I’ve been blessed with one of the happiest babies on the planet. Even when she’s kinda fussy she really isn’t that bad and you can make her smile pretty easily. She has her moments just like all of us but it’s pretty easy to turn that frown upside down. It’s amazing where we started with Ellie and where we are now. We used to only get two consecutive hours of sleep. If we were lucky Ellie would go back down easy, but most often it would be two hours of sleep, two hours awake, and repeat. I would be so excited when morning came because I felt like I survived. We made it! We survived! Who knew what was going to happen during the day, but at least the night was over.  We started to get used to those two hours of sleep. We’d have a plan. Aya would nurse her and I’d lie on the floor to make sure she didn’t fall asleep(if I didn’t fall asleep myself…).  This was not a fool proof plan but it worked the majority of the time. If Ellie was still upset after nursing I’d clock it until she was asleep. And then two hours later: repeat. And then that two hours turned into four, and we got used to that, and then soon after it turned into six. And now she’s sleeping through the night! Sometimes even twelve hours in a row! We are spoiled! But sometimes…
Sometimes she still wants to fight and fight is exactly what she did a few nights ago. It was fight night, but both Aya and I were out of shape. We hadn’t had a fight night in a while. Aya had nursed Ellie and put her to bed without a problem, but twenty minutes later, it was a BIG problem. Aya hit the ring first. Ellie was crying and crying and crying, and then screaming. After a little while I tagged in and gave it a go but boy was I out of shape. I felt like Apollo Creed fighting the Russian in Rocky IV. Ellie came out strong kicking and screaming, flipping all over the place, and she wasn’t even pausing. I even think I heard her say, “I will break you,” with a Russian accent. I had to think quickly. The mirror! That usually works. I walked into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror with her. She eventually opened her eyes, stopped, and then continued to wail! She means business if her own face can’t calm her down. I went for the Beatles next because that always work. Her favorite song is You Really Got a Hold on Me. This song is like a horse tranquilizer for her. She usually immediately stops crying, gets quiet and falls asleep. But this time it had no effect on her, not even a little bit. I was starting to get concerned. Maybe there was something seriously wrong with her? Nothing made sense but if even Paul and John can’t soothe then we’ve got real trouble here. What do I do!? She was killing me in this fight. As I was reaching for the ropes about to tag out I thought; Cheerios! Aya, get the Cheerios! QUICK!Â
I brought her downstairs and we put the Cheerios on the coffee table in front of her. She wouldn’t even open her eyes because she was still wailng. So we put a Cheerio in her mouth and she stopped abruptly. “What is this!? I was crying!… wait… I remember these… I LOVE these… you have any more of these? I am pretty upset.” So she proceeded to eat her Cheerios with snot and tears running down her face while hiccupping from crying so hard… and then she smiled.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.  I used to joke with Aya how I should keep a candy bar handy when she gets cranky, because food is the sure cure for most anything with her. It appears Ellie is her momma’s daughter. Like momma, like daughter.Â
