Sleeping on the couch is LUXURIOUS

Lucy got a minor cold last week and turned back into a newborn for five or six days. Ok, so maybe not a newborn... maybe more like a nine-month old. She would cry and cry for us when we put her to bed (I think one night Dave and I climbed the stairs to soothe her a combined 10 times before she settled down around 9:30) and she was waking up two or three times in the middle of the night requiring attention, too. Two of those nights we just gave up and Dave moved downstairs to the couch while I brought her to bed with me.

But without a doubt, the most frustrating thing was getting her to settle down enough to fall asleep at the beginning of the night. Because we couldn't figure out FOR THE LIFE OF US whether or not she was just pulling our chains. She'd wail for Mooooommmy, Daaaaadddy, and then we'd arrive up there and she'd perk up immediately and launch into some sort of General Interrogation about why her stuffed piggy wasn't wearing a diaper or why Daddy's beard didn't go all the way up to his forehead. Dave went up there once with the full intention of giving her a stern lecture about LAYING DOWN AND STAYING THERE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, and as he leaned forward to get in her face about it, she put her hands on his cheeks and asked sweetly, “Daddy, what color eyes you have? What color eyes do Mommy have?” and all the Sternness in his entire body (which really isn't a ton, as he's pretty skinny) went flying out the window. I don't know if we'll ever get it back; I think that little precious moment drained him of anger and frustration for life.

Nothing puts fear into my heart like the possibility that we could be dealing with a phase that isn't related to illness. Are you with me on this? I feel like if I know my kid has a cold, or the flu, or is recovering from a round of immunizations or WHATEVER, that I can make it through a week or more of crappy sleep because I know that all we need is for her to feel better, and everything will go back to normal. But these developmental things totally freak me out. I was picturing us having to fight this awful bedtime battle for weeks on end, and having to WIN and just being exhausted and angry every night between the hours of 7:30 and 10pm. But it appears to have passed, and the last three nights have been calm and incident-free, and it would be foolish of me to say anything more for fear of ruining the whole thing so I'll stop now except to say a very quiet and tasteful, “yay.”

Lucy is such a fun kid to be around these days. She is so imaginative and chatty, and sometimes I cannot believe the things that come out of her mouth. She is also still cramming those disgusting burp cloths in her mouth on a regular basis, and is one of the dirtiest kids I have ever met. I dress her in the morning in super cute clothes and fix her hair (we do not leave the house without a bow, you guys - I never thought I would be a Bow Person) and I kid you not, somehow by the time we arrive at Asher's preschool dropoff she has boogers smeared halfway across her face and her hair is sticking up in every direction. She's taken her shoes off and that soggy blankie is hanging out of her mouth and yet, she's hands down the cutest thing in the entire world. How is that possible? This is a kid who is constantly picking her nose (“I am trying to get the boogers all the way out!”) and instead of being disgusted and appalled, I'm trying to encourage her to do it again FOR THE VIDEO CAMERA.

WHO AM I, I ask you. I have become someone who wants actual video evidence of her child picking her nose, and not for blackmailing purposes. Simply because I find it ENDEARING. (Also because she can almost get in there up to her second knuckle, which is downright IMPRESSIVE.)

We're headed out of town on Friday and for the first time ever, I am going to attempt to not only put my kids to bed in the same room, but let Lucy sleep in a real bed. The kind without bars around it. It will be interesting at best, though if I learned anything last week, it's that at least that kid will go back to sleep if she's in a bed with me. Asher was the kind of kid who just rolled around and kicked us in the head and mumbled nonsense and eventually asked to be put back into his own bed; Lucy makes herself comfortable and conks out with that atrocious blankie and snores her little heart out on the pillow next to me. I'm okay with that, but you could wish us luck anyway.

Comments

[Kate]

Quick tip! I just moved my 2 year old to a bed and we put a pool noodle under the mattress pad to act as a barrier (instead of one of those big expensive "gates"). It works perfect and will travel well!!!!

Um, since I'm first on the comment posts can I ask where you got the green bathroom cups/accessories in the kids bathroom? I've been meaning to ask for months. I want a splash of color in my kids bathroom but can't find ANYTHING like that!! I know that sounds unheard of but seriously! Every time I look in Walmart or Target AGAIN for something new I think, dangit I need to ask Emily.

I don't want clear glass/plastic, I want something so you can't see all of the toothpaste nasties.

[Elizabeth]

Good luck lady. Also, yes, that Lucy is quite the adorable child and I totally admire her nose picking skills.

[Lynda M O]

Great stuff, thanks for taking the time and care to write for our reading pleasure.

[Angie]

She is SO cute! You are right. The cuteness makes is real hard to stay mad at such stinkers. : ) Thomas picks his nose constantly too, and of course Elise does it now too because she watches him. Yikes. Check out my recent pics on FB of Elise at the beach. The girl loves to get dirty! I swear, I'll be finding sand in her hair for months!
Miss you!

[Sheila]

I have a girl the same age as Lucy and we are also contemplating moving her out of her crib (because the borrowed crib our 6 month old is using needs to be returned soon). I just wanted to thank Kate for the pool noodle comment - that sounds like a GREAT idea! I will rush off to buy one right away... would they have them at Wal-Mart this time of year or do I go to amazon? Keep us posted on how the transition goes for Lucy.

p.s. Since I am here getting advice, has Lucy (or any other commenter's kids) decided she is afraid of bugs? My girl just randomly started screaming at the park the other day because of a bug. I'm talking ant-sized bug. And she honestly seems scared, not just whiny. I think maybe she picked up this phobia at daycare, but I'm at a loss... we cannot get through a summer if we can't go to the park, and there will always be bugs at the park. Suggestions? My mom told me to go ask my blogs so here I am...

[HereWeGoAJen]

I thought I was going to say something interesting, but the cuteness of Lucy distracted me.

[Parsing Nonsense]

Good luck! I'm with you in the sleepless camp (we're a grumpy bunch of campers, not the happy kind at ALL). Aidan got over croup just in time to catch the stomach flu, and then when he was done puking all night he moved on to teething. I haven't gotten a decent night's rest in a month and it's gotten to the point where I feel like everyone should know about it.

But good luck. I suppose that was the real point of this comment.

[ant danielle]

Well, you can hardly blame her for wanting to get the boogers ALL THE WAY OUT! She really is adorable.

[Heather R]

I just got an email forward the other day about a children's book called "Go The F*** To Sleep." It is obviously a book for adults to read for fun and not to actually read to a child, but it is a picture book with cute little rhymes and very soothing pictures....but each verse ends with something like, "I don't you're not thirsty. Now go the f*** to sleep." It's on Amazon if you are interested!

[Heather R]

ooops....I meant, "I know you're not thirsty, now go the f*** to sleep."

[Ziva]

Okay, this is freaky. Your daughter sounds just like a grown up version of my little girl (she's 10 months) except Lucy picks her nose and my daughter sucks her thumb, no matter how dirty it is. But the really creepy thing is, Lucy looks like my daughter!