On Sleep. Again.

Swistle summed it about about perfectly when she said that sleep issues seem to follow right on the heels of each other. Once one problem is solved the baby gets sick, or is teething, or something throws a wrench in an already tenuous routine and whatever was working no longer works.

Such is the case for us. Bubette still wakes once during the night. She's almost 11 months old. I'm certain that at 25 pounds she absolutely does not need to be fed in the middle of the night, but she doesn't seem to agree. Also, the baby who would play happily in her crib until falling asleep at naptime has disappeared. Now she screams as if her crib is lined in needles until someone comes in to rock her to sleep. And I like the rocking, except... she kicks, and pinches and claws at my face and pulls my hair and twists around so that I need two hands and a firm grip to keep her in my lap. Anyone looking would think that she absolutely wants nothing to do with this rocking, but woe to he who puts the baby in bed before she is good and ready.

And, the pre-naptime ritual takes up to an hour. Add that to the 1.5/2 hours she typically sleeps, times two, and I'm housebound for a lot of the day. I have an older kid who likes to go places and I have errands I like to run during the precious few hours he's in school.

All of this is just whining because there's really nothing to be done. I can't make her sleep or fall asleep faster. I'm worrying in advance because we're going on vacation next month and I have no idea what the time difference will do to her (nor can I do anything about it. Whee!) I want to introduce a lovey, but I'm too neurotic to let her sleep with her one foot square blankie.

Mostly, I just want to record these days for posterity. When she's 15 and I'm throwing open the blinds and dragging her out of bed, I'll look back on these days with fondness, right?

Share your sleeping woes (or successes! Tell me it will end! Lie to me is what I'm saying.)

Ten (ish)

Oh baby of mine, time is flying. It seems like if I blink we'll be celebrating your first birthday. I just can't believe what a different baby you are every day. You hold your own bottle all of a sudden, (thanks to your teeth you're getting more and more bottles these days) but you refuse a sippy cup. You have shown us that you're totally capable of crawling, but you prefer to use your elbow to drag yourself across the floor with one leg pointing up like a chubby little rudder. You pull up on your knees, but you aren't pulling up to stand yet. (The doctor has given you about two more weeks of this and then, well, I'm not sure exactly what he has in mind, but standing would appear to be in order.)

You laugh and smile and clap and just generally entertain us. You do "so big" and what appears to be the sign for "more." You put everything you can find into you mouth and you will rake your fingers across the floor until you find something - anything - (usually something gross) to chew on.

You look absolutely nothing like me, which everyone is quick to point out. Then they see your blond, freckled brother and realize that my genes were strong with at least one of you. Regardless, my second word was okay, and I was the kind of easygoing baby that you continue to be. We went to a party recently and you were passed from one set of arms to another and not once did you complain, not even when you were the repeated target of obvious affection from the host's dog.

Every day I ask you to say mama, and every day you reply with dada. If you have anything in common with your brother, then that's just a sign of things to come.

Still, you're my best girl, my little doll, and maybe, just maybe, you'll surprise me by sleeping through the night before your first birthday.

Please?

Hey, I'm giving away diapers over here. Have you entered yet?

I've got something for (one of) you!

I should take it as a sign that the only person who commented that I haven't been blogging lately is the one person I talk to every single day and knows every thought I'm having as I'm having it. No, I wasn't testing you, just busy, busy busy.

I'm back now and I've got a little giveaway for you. Since it seems like every single person I know in an internet sort of way is pregnant or newly parental, the timing seems just right.

Recently, Huggies contacted me about trying out their Little Movers. Here's a confession: I wasn't a Huggies user. Mostly because when I had Bub, we started with one kind of diaper and I was afraid to tempt fate by trying any others. But, I tried them and am just as happy with them as what I had been using. They made it through the night (or until our middle of the night waking anyway. Will this baby ever sleep through the night?) without any signs of trouble and they have giant, stretchy tabs that are great for quickly wrestling a diaper onto a squirmy baby. I'm kind of in love with those tabs. Oh, and there is more than sufficient bum coverage for my roly poly baby, which is something something.

So, I have free diapers for you! Do you want them? Just leave me a comment and you'll be entered to win. Be sure to include your email address if it's not visible in your profile.

If you would like to earn two additional (and totally optional) entries you can "Like" Huggies on Facebook and follow Huggies on Twitter. Just leave a separate comment for each letting me know that you're a good little clicker.

This giveaway will be open until Monday, April 25.

Huggies® provided me with product coupons to conduct a reader giveaway. However, my opinions on the product are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive sentiments towards Huggies® or their products.

Somehow

My husband stands over me at 5:45 before leaving for work.

We forgot to pick a paint color.

For what?

The house.

What house? (It's 5:45 in the AM, and I haven't slept through the night in going on ten months)

Our house. Our NEW house.

Oh. No we didn't. They picked a color. They showed it to us.

They did? Did I like it?

Doesn't really matter now, since-

Right, too late to change it. Got it.

We picked a house. Completely out of the neighborhoods and even price range that we were originally considering, but I'm in love. Yesterday we were able to see some of the finishes that are going into the not-completely-built-yet house and my husband's head nearly blew off of his shoulders when they told him that we couldn't make any changes, despite the fact that nothing has been installed yet. (For what it's worth, I loved what they picked.)

As he was leaving I heard both kids moving around in their rooms, but somehow, magically, I managed to eek out another hour in bed. Bub got out of bed and turned on his music and I didn't hear from him again until 7:00. Just as I was about to go feed the baby, hoping we would both be able to get back to sleep, she quieted down until nearly 8:00.

There are so many decisions to be made. My girl is turning one in two months, just as the new house will be ready and we're choosing which room will go to which child and what furniture we can make work, and what art I NEED from Etsy and it's overwhelming, but a great kind of overwhelming.

Oh, and my girl started doing "So big!" on demand yesterday and I died from the cuteness.

Happy weekend, everyone.