On days when Jessica has slept well, including having a proper (1 – 1 1/2 hour long) nap in the morning and the afternoon, she’s happy and chatty and doesn’t need much to entertain herself. Unfortunately, not every day is like that, as she sometimes takes a bit more persuasion to fall asleep. I didn’t want to create an association between her cot and daytime napping, as her night-time sleep is going so well on the whole and I didn’t want to risk mucking that up. Plus we’re also out and about a fair bit and if she was unable to sleep anywhere else but in her cot, we’d be in trouble… Most of the time she goes to sleep in her push chair – connecting being on the move with an opportunity to sleep might turn out handy in future.
Yesterday Jessica didn’t nap very well at all. She only managed half an hour of sleep in the morning and afternoon respectively. As a result, she struggled to stay in a good mood during the day, starting to cry from sheer exhaustion at regular intervals. Unfortunately, this coincided with her farmor’s birthday celebrations and Jessica’s first pub lunch.
Jessica’s aunt Wendy had booked a table at The Plough and Furrows and, as usual, the new environment and seeing new people initially made Jessica very excited, but it wasn’t long until the cracks started to appear… When the tiredness was too much for Jessica to bear, Ian managed to rock and sing her to sleep and we put her in the car seat to let her sleep under a corner of our table. She slept for long enough for us to finish our desserts but that was about it and Ian and I realised we wouldn’t be able to stay for too much longer. I was preparing to whisk Jessica away for some fresh air and peace and quiet outside just as a couple of members of staff carried in a Bailey’s with a birthday candle for farmor Diana and the whole pub started to sing ‘Happy birthday’. This was in a sense the last drop and Jessica, red in the face, started to cry desperately… Needless to say, we got her out of there as soon as possible.
We were going back to ours for coffee afterwards and I tried to persuade Jessica to have another snooze but she wouldn’t have it. Her mood was swinging up and down all afternoon, but while it was on the ‘up’, she kicked a ball around with her Auntie Wendy and farmor Diana – from a seated position and with some assistance, I must add, but also with lots of giggles…!
Already at 5.30pm, an hour earlier than usual, Jessica had had enough of the day – there was nothing that could distract her from being grizzly. We got her ready for bed, I fed her and put her in her cot but she wouldn’t stop crying. After almost an hour I realised I just wasn’t going to be able to settle her and handed over to her Daddy, who repeated his trick from that same afternoon. Ian’s rocking and quiet singing made Jessica at ease and not long after he had closed the door around her she nodded off to sleep. I was dreading the night, fearing she would wake up a lot and be unsettled, but as it happened she slept through until 6.30am – so I actually got a lie-in…!
Today, Jessica’s been sitting up and playing without support, which was really exciting. I kept nearby to help her up when she toppled, which inevitably she did when she reached for something a little bit further away, but she sat upright all by herself for a good few minutes at the time.
She slept for an hour and a half in the morning and then 40 minutes in the afternoon and we had a really good day as a result. Today she had banana & raspberry for second breakfast, cauliflower with a bit of grated cheese for lunch and plum porridge, along with her usual formula feeds. I also introduced her to drinking water out of a sipping cup: she kept wrinkling her nose at the taste of water but also kept lifting the cup up for another try. I’ll keep giving her a bit of water everyday and hopefully she’ll grow to like it.
Finally, I can’t believe Jessica is actually 6 months old today… It’s amazing how big she looks suddenly.
Gabriella