The Little Whiles: July 2010

This painful experience started out very innocently... we thought since baby #2 would be arriving in 5 short months and Norah would be turning 2 in a blink of an eye, that we should have the paci fairy pay us a visit and just get it over with. The sooner the better right? I mean that just gives Norah more time to forget all about the paci before her new little brother or sister has one.

While we were devising our scheme for paci removal we had a brilliant idea! Let's give Norah a big girl bed at the same time!! She loves sleeping on her cot for naps at daycare and maybe it will be so exciting to have a new big girl bed that she will not miss her paci quite as much! We thought this was such a fantastic idea that we could not imagine why no one else had thought to do it this way (at least no one we knew).

We took Norah on a trip to Ikea one Saturday morning and had a fun day eating lunch together and playing with all the kids there. Norah played on all the beds and was really excited to get one of her own! She helped pick one out along with cute new heart bed linens. We got home and Dad assembled the bed in the living room while Norah and I watched a movie (well, 15 minutes of it). After it was all put together she couldn't wait to try it out!

We had been talking to Norah about the paci fairy making a visit for a few days, so later that night when we asked her to gather all of her pacis up and put them in the beautiful glittery box for the paci fairy she was very excited and didn't hesitate a bit! We put the box on her dresser so she could see it from her new bed and told her the paci fairy would take the box and leave a present for her while she was sleeping. That night she went to bed like an angel... no crying, no fussing, not even a request for an extra kiss! We were so happy! I thought to myself that this is too good to be true, and I was right.

The first night was the only good night. By day two we were having 2-3 hours of "cry it out" sessions each for early morning wake-ups, naps and bedtime. These sessions all ended with one of us intervening, because instead of fading away to sleep, the crying fits would get louder and more anger-filled as time went on. We started asking our friends and family for advice on day 4 and everyone said we should stick with it; it's too late to go back now!

Well on night 13 of this horrid experiment we decided we should bring back the crib because she seemed to be fine without the paci. She only asked for it maybe twice and both times she was excited and happy that the paci fairy took her pacis in exchange for a very cool present (a bassinet for her baby doll). So we asked her if she wanted her crib back and she said yes with a big nod of assurance. Daddy did all the work of disassembling both the crib and her big girl bed so he could fit them through the doorways and as soon as he started reassembling the crib in her room she threw a fit saying "No Crib!! No Crib!! Norah Big Girl Bed!!" So I asked her if she wanted her big girl bed back and she adamantly said yes and the crying stopped.

After the beds were put back and all was settled, we decided to tell Norah that we found a paci that the paci fairy accidentally left behind (thank God we saved them!). This was our only hope of getting our lives back. We were all extremely sleep deprived and frustrated, and sleep deprivation is not pretty in a toddler or a pregnant mother of a toddler.

This all started on June 4th. It is now July 8th. We still have troubles at bedtime if Mom's not there to sing to her and kiss her goodnight, and we have new reasons to scream bloody murder when falling asleep or waking up... like her foot is not covered, or the monkey blanket is not over her shoulder, or her baby blanket is not right next to her face. She is still not getting quite enough sleep, but it is getting better. I can see a dim light at the end of the tunnel that someday I will have restful slumber once again. But by then I am sure I will be losing sleep over something else entirely different.

To have children is to run the most exhausting, frustrating, emotional, patience-testing marathon that you cannot even begin to imagine. It happens to also be the most fun, exciting, rewarding, joyful, make your heart-a-flutter and hilarious marathon out there. So here's to sleep! May we meet again in 20-25 years!

A few shots of her new bed and just how much she loves it...