Nora is on a sleep strike.
For the past few weeks Nora hasn't been sleeping through the night, or going to bed anywhere near her bedtime. We have taken to keeping a banana and a sippy cup with water next to our bed as we prepare for the inevitable 2 AM wakeup call.
April's theory is that she is going through some kind of growth spurt now, which may explain why she eats twice as much as she did a month ago and why her sleeping schedule has gone out the window.
To give you an example, here's how it went last Thursday :
7:45 PM - Nora's behavior becomes erratic, her mood swings from one extreme to another in a matter of seconds. The official proclamation is made..."Time for bed!!"
8:00 PM - Bedtime routine. Put on jammies, kiss everyone goodnight, brush teeth, read books in the rocking chair. Nora lays down in crib.
8:15 PM - Nora, thinking this "going to bed" game is fun, re-arranges her stuffed animals in the crib and tells them that it's time to go "nye nye," while carefully covering them with her blanket. Once April leaves the room, she realizes that the gig is up and starts to scream. "mommy maaaa, mommy maaaa, mommy maaaa!!!!"
8:32 PM - The screaming continues, with increasing levels of intensity. She tries calling out the names of anyone she can think of, including Daddy, Auntie Pea, Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa...
8:50 PM - One of us finally breaks down and picks her up out of her crib, takes her out into the living room to watch TV.
9:20 PM - We try the routine again.
9:42 PM - Exhausted, she finally stops screaming and goes to sleep.
12:35 AM - We are jolted out of bed by sudden, ear-piercing screams.
"Should we get her?"
"mmmmmrrph?"
Time passes. The screams get louder.
"We gotta just let her cry it out."
More screams.
"@%&#$*." April gets up.
12:40 AM - April goes and brings her into our bed, hoping she will calm down.
Suddenly, it's playtime. April tries her best to explain to Nora that she needs to be quiet..."Daddy's sleeping!"
Nora finds this amusing and repeats it over and over again..."Daddy seeping, shhhhh! Daddy seeping!"
1:00 AM - Somehow, April manages to calm her down and she falls asleep again.
2:00 AM - Nora thrashes around in her sleep, rolling from side to side, finally settling on a position perpindicular to us in the bed, with her head on my chest and her feet on April's neck. Neither one of us can sleep with this arrangement for very long, so we carefully try to straighten her out. Despite our best efforts, she wakes up.
She's hungry. She wants a bananna. "manna? manna?! waters? milkie? MANNA!? MANNAAA!!!!"
April gets up to get her a bananna. Fortunately there are still some left in the kitchen. We learned early on to keep a strategic reserve for just such an occasion.
2:20 AM - She goes back to sleep.
3:00 AM - More thrashing. She has done a complete rotation, starting with her head near mine, then performing a 180-degree turn, finally settling back into her perpendicular position with her head near April's neck. After a couple of kicks to the head, I give up and roll out of bed.
"@#$(*&(*%$." I go into the living room and pull out the hide-a-bed, where I finally manage to get some sleep.
3:32 AM - I feel a rustling next to me. It's Sydney the cat. Fortunately, Sydney doesn't thrash around. She curls up in a ball next to my legs and we both go back to sleep.
7:30 AM - I am awakened by the sun streaming in through the living room windows. I look at the clock.
"@#(&$#$$!!"
Realizing I have overslept 1 1/2 hours, I scramble around getting ready for work. Despite all the noise, Nora does not budge. She doesn't wake up until after 8:00.
April and I are hoping that this phase will not last too much longer. What happens if we run out of banannas?
Time to go to bed.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Applesauce Pouches
So this is how they package applesauce in France. We LOVED it because Nora could eat it all by herself. I think she liked putting the lid on and taking it off as well.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
I know my name!
Nora is now able to refer to herself in the third person! Instead of everything being "mine" it is simply "Nora's seat, Nora's shirt, or Nora's socks," etc. She can also tell someone what her name is: I'm Nora!.
She's getting quite good at getting her wishes across as well. She can demand tickles for herself, tell Mommy to lay on the floor so she can tickle her, and tell Daddy to tickle Mommy! She is a pretty amazing talker. On the flight back from France there was a lady with her 2 1/2 year old who couldn't talk as well as Nora! She was pretty impressed the our little peanut.
Nora also loves do go up and down the stairs. She's getting really good at going up, but I still make her go on her stomach when she goes down alone. The part she likes the best right now is jumping off the last step (it's finally a two-footed jump).
She's getting quite good at getting her wishes across as well. She can demand tickles for herself, tell Mommy to lay on the floor so she can tickle her, and tell Daddy to tickle Mommy! She is a pretty amazing talker. On the flight back from France there was a lady with her 2 1/2 year old who couldn't talk as well as Nora! She was pretty impressed the our little peanut.
Nora also loves do go up and down the stairs. She's getting really good at going up, but I still make her go on her stomach when she goes down alone. The part she likes the best right now is jumping off the last step (it's finally a two-footed jump).
Infection
It seems that strange infections are in for the Remfrey clan. I had to take Nora to the ER today because she was grabbing at a bug bite on her leg and screaming "Owie!" over and over. I found out that it was not a big bite, but probably a thorn from a rose bush that has been stuck in her leg since we were in France! I remember seeing some blood on her leg, but we both thought it was a mosquito bite and didn't think more about it. It wasn't!
I'm putting antibiotic ointment on it twice a day and covering it with a pleasing band-aide that Nora will hopefully leave on for the necessary time ;-) I'll keep you informed.
The most interesting part of the visit to the ER was listening to the lady next to us try to get a perscription for Vicadin (sp?). The doctor told her that she had filled 17 perscriptions for the same thing with different doctors over the last 2.5 months and he wasn't going to help her. She was not a very happy camper as you can imagine. I that this only happened on TV, but obviously not!
I'm putting antibiotic ointment on it twice a day and covering it with a pleasing band-aide that Nora will hopefully leave on for the necessary time ;-) I'll keep you informed.
The most interesting part of the visit to the ER was listening to the lady next to us try to get a perscription for Vicadin (sp?). The doctor told her that she had filled 17 perscriptions for the same thing with different doctors over the last 2.5 months and he wasn't going to help her. She was not a very happy camper as you can imagine. I that this only happened on TV, but obviously not!
Friday, July 21, 2006
Riding in the purple thing
We are going to have to get a bigger carrier...she's starting to outgrow this one!
Hiking on Hurricane Ridge
Last Sunday we decided to venture out to the Olympic Peninsula to check out the Lavender Festival in Sequim. What we thought would be a nice afternoon in the lavender fields turned out to be a disappointment, as all the lavender farms were charging $10/person to get in.
Our sprits dampened but not broken, we headed west to Port Angeles and visited the Olympic National Park. We drove on a tiny two-lane road about 30 miles up into the Olympic range and stopped at a beautiful vista called Hurricane Ridge. Nora climbed into her purple carrier only under protest, but seemed to enjoy herself once we reached the top.
The view was spectacular. Looking north, we could see the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Dungeness area (where the crabs are harvested).
Our sprits dampened but not broken, we headed west to Port Angeles and visited the Olympic National Park. We drove on a tiny two-lane road about 30 miles up into the Olympic range and stopped at a beautiful vista called Hurricane Ridge. Nora climbed into her purple carrier only under protest, but seemed to enjoy herself once we reached the top.
The view was spectacular. Looking north, we could see the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Dungeness area (where the crabs are harvested).
Saturday, July 15, 2006
On the cable car to Feldberg
We visited Feldberg, the highest point in the Black Forest. Nora loved riding the cable car that took us to the top of the mountain.
Mommy and Nora in Germany
We spent a couple days in Germany after the wedding. Here are mommy and Nora in the black forest village of Waldau.
I'm tired, Manou!
We had a picnic the day after the wedding in a park nearby, where some neighbors made flammekuche in a wood-fired stove. Nora was a bit sleepy that afternoon after all of her partying the night before.
Dancing the night away
Here is Nora dancing with Marie, the bride. This picture was taken around 1:00 AM after the reception dinner. Because of her jet lag, Nora was wide awake for the festivities and ran out in the middle of the dance floor in her onesie to dance with the wedding party.
By the time they had finished playing "YMCA" we thought she would have had enough...but she kept dancing until a little after 2 AM that night. She wiggled her butt around, clapped her hands in the air, and ran around the floor chasing the disco lights.
By the time they had finished playing "YMCA" we thought she would have had enough...but she kept dancing until a little after 2 AM that night. She wiggled her butt around, clapped her hands in the air, and ran around the floor chasing the disco lights.
Nora, meet Marinette
Nora grew quite attached to Marinette ("manou!") and had lots of fun playing with her. She taught Nora her first words in French.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)