Bad Ideas and Monster Days

That last 3x non-fat latte was a bad idea. Seemed good at the time, but now I'm tired and still buzzing slightly from caffeine. I already don't sleep well alone. Coffee isn't going to help that cause.

Speaking of not sleeping...little M was quite the monster today. She didn't nap. Not one bit. Well, maybe a bitty bit. But not nearly enough. That's why I needed the coffee. To keep up wit her.

Maia has discovered the ability to pull herself up to standing in her crib. She has also discovered that her mattress bounces when one stand up on it. She has decided that sleep is for the weak and she would much rather be a crazy standing baby than a cheerful rested one. The rested one has to LAY DOWN for a while. The crazy baby gets to STAND UP and BOUNCE. Tough decision.

And it won't help one bit to drop her mattress the rest of the way down. She holds on to the side rail slats. She doesn't need the top bar at all. One friend has suggested plexi-glass and after a few more days like this I might just consider it.

It wasn't as though I didn't try to get her to nap. She just knows when she hits the bed. At morning nap time we read a story and had a bottle and she was blissfully drowsy when I put her down to sleep. As soon as her body hit the mattress, she began to roll about and sit up. I lay her down and turned on the mobile. Roll and sit. I lay her down again and left the room. 15 minutes later I go in again to lay her down. She sits up in bed, gets into a corner, leans into it and cries. After an hour of struggling with her, I give up and we got to the park. We play. We have lunch. It's nap time. She's full and I figure she's got to be tired by now.

She falls asleep in the car. I transfer her to her bed, still sleeping. Head on mattress...awake. Roll, sit, pull up and bounce. I make another bottle. We rock. She dozes off. I put her down. I leave the room and all is quiet. 5 minutes later I hear the distinctive squeek squeal of Miss bouncing. I head into the room and sure enough, there she is laughing away. I give up quickly this time.

Fortunatly, a friend calls and we decided to do coffee. We're both dragging. I think, "Perfect, Maia can sleep in the stroller". I changer her up, bundle her into the stroller and away we go. She refuses to sleep. Coffee is nice. We walk around downtown. We visit the bookstore. Maia pulls up on anything and everything she can. Still no sign of sleep. We walk home. Not an eye shut.

I need to attend a neighborhood meeting. I am so very worried about the impending Maia meltdown, I begin to sweat. We go off, bottle in hand, toys in place and a blanket for the grass. Maia does very well up to the very end when she just can't take it anymore. I bounce her to sleep on my shoulder. I pick up her toys. I gather the information from the meeting. Maia stays asleep through all this and the walk home. She stays asleep as I greet my brother. She stays asleep as I take off her hat, unsnap her jacket, and pull it off of her. She stays asleep until her head hits the mattress. Sigh.

Back to square one. PJ's on. Another bottle. Lots of rocking and snuggling. She's out. Until the crib. I leave her, exausted and trying to pull up on her bed. This is one determined baby. She finally passes out from sheer exhaustion after about 3 minutes of *light* fussing.

That was around 9 PM. I hope she stays down until 11 AM. Even if it means missing my group meeting. (darn)

Have I mentioned my lack of showering? No daddy break and no nap for Maia equals one stinky mama. Another bad idea from our monster day.