Jessica still has trouble settling for her day naps. Well, I don’t think she thinks of it as a problem: she’s having much too fun pulling herself up, walking about the cot rearranging the bedlinen and chatting to herself. But the result is that she gets tired and cranky, as she’s not allowing herself to relax, switch off and sleep. Well, correction, really, if anyone thinks she cries non-stop as a result, because she really doesn’t – she tries to be happy and cheerful and is glad to see us, but she has less patience with herself if she stumbles or falls over, which she does more often as she’s tired, and she’s more ‘clingy’. The best choice of activity is usually to sit down with her and look through a stack of books together.
After being a bit at a loss about what to do, I’ve now tried putting her to bed, kissing her and leaving the room as per usual, then coming back every ten minutes to tidy the cot up a bit and lay her down again. The first couple of times she’s quickly on her feet again but after a couple of times more, she starts to get too tired to pull herself up, and when eventually she is too tired to do so, she stays lying down and goes to sleep quite quickly (though not without a grumble – she’s inquisitive and loves to explore and finds restraints on that frustrating).
Someone suggested laying her down straight away after she’s stood up, but she’s so quick up on her feet that it would all turn into some sort of wrestling match, and I don’t want to do that – feels like I might as well tie her down with straps… So I let her get a bit of it out of her system each time instead. Feel a bit awkward still (insisting that she does something she obviously wants to do), but I have to realise that she’s too young to make the connection between tiredness and sleep, especially when there are so many other more fun things to be doing… I don’t like the expression ‘mother knows best’ as I don’t believe it’s necessarily true (depends on the mum, surely – being a mum doesn’t automatically make you wise, don’t I know it…!) , but in this instance I know I shouldn’t feel bad about insisting on what actually is best for her.
After having napped about 11am to 1.30/2pm over the weekend and a mere hour and a half midday yesterday (yes, I’m not even considering trying for an afternoon nap at this stage), she managed to fall asleep at about 9.40am today and is still asleep as I write this paragraph at 11.30am. She was very tired this morning, though:Â her Dad cheered her up by just being around but otherwise she kept starting to cry for no apparent reason and kept wanting to be carried, as if walking about under her own steam was too much. So I’m glad she’s getting some rest now. Her night-time rest – although I didn’t hear her being awake and I’ve not noticed her standing up in the cot during the night so far – maybe wasn’t very good.
We have now got Jessica a new cot, by the way. Ian bought it at a house clearance, so it’s second hand but in good condition. It’s a cot bed, so should last Jessica until she’s about 4, and is both bigger and lots sturdier than the cot she’s had up to now (which Ian has dismantled and will be tucked away until the new baby arrives early summer). That makes us feel more at ease now that she’s moving around in it so much. She’s really strong now – maybe that’s a general baby/toddler thing.
Her room isn’t ready yet, still – well, it seemed hardly any point before the new windows came in… But now we can sort it out properly. I’ll have to touch up the paint on the wall in a few places, then we’ll sort out curtains, a new overhead light and get some things up on the walls, maybe a rug on the floor: generally make her room more cosy and play-friendly…!
At the weekend, the weather was glorious – almost spring time with lovely clear-blue skies and no need for a jacket in the sunshine. The three of us had a nice, relaxed weekend at home. Saturday (9 February) afternoon, after Jessica had had her lunch, we put her in the pushchair and took a stroll over to a green area with a stream, Emlyn Meadows, that Ian had discovered not too far from where we live.
Jessica loved it of course: running around across the grass, dragging one of us behind her (we were reluctant to let her run/walk on her own, as the ground was sloping and really uneven in places). She picked up dry leaves, grass, little twigs and old, dirty chestnuts off the ground to -Â more often than not -Â put in her mouth. We couldn’t prevent her from chomping on everything, but we did our best with the muckiest things…!
She grumbled a bit when we put her back in the push chair to get her home for some afternoon formula, but seemed to sit back and enjoy the view almost straight away. We’re so looking forward to summer, when we can let her run around in our garden again!
What else has happened since last…? At the weekend, I saw Jessica running toy cars across the floor for the first time – a bit hesitantly, but she’s discovered that she can use the wheels (and that toy cars are good for other things than just putting in her mouth…!), which we’re quite chuffed with. She still loves her little toy Miffy, when we play peek-a-boo ourselves or with her dolls or soft toys and she still likes to topple any towers we build using cups or building blocks, and to throw the pieces from her jigsaw puzzle as far behind her as possible. And she’s still very keen on her books. She will now happily walk up to her toy box, grab the side for support and choose any toys she wants out of it herself. The washing machine isn’t quite as interesting anymore, but she loves opening the door to the oven – and leaving it open for us to walk into (it opens vertically)…!
Her fourth tooth (top, front right) came through Tuesday 5 February, so she’s now got two little pearly-whites at the top and two at the bottom…!
Gabriella