winterlude

 The kids could hardly believe it this morning when daylight revealed an expanding patch of green grass out the front windows. 

 I can hardly believe it myself, this long spell of 40 degree weather.  I just need three inches more of my raised beds to thaw and I can plant some tulip bulbs.  This will probably happen, because this warm spell is supposed to continue on for at least another week. 

 It's lovely, this mild month in the middle of winter, but I do believe it has confused my circadian rhythm to an extent, because I have been going through a dismal patch of insomnia this last few weeks.  At least with the stomach flu, head cold, teething toddler and so on I have had lots of company in the long watches of the night.  I guess this strange weather is interrupting our Alaskan hibernation period.  Frankly, it has been a rough month for sleep. 

 But it sure is nice to get outside in the mild temps.  The hobbits are loving it.  Exploring our wooded paths we've seen all kinds of things that continue life as usual over the winter.

 Like this patch of evergreen (some trumpet lichens I think?)

And the chickens have been ever-so-kindly laying us an increasing supply of eggs (8 yesterday!) Eggs so beautiful that it feels like Easter every time I look at them.  So I guess every cloud has a silver lining.  And as this record-breaking warm January winds down to an end I know that this rough patch of sleep and sick kids are things that will soon become distant memories.  And in the meanwhile, I am so thankful for good breakfast coffee and fresh eggs.

Sadie's Dreefees

“Most kids have a special stuffed animal, ratty blanket or dog-eared book they take to sleep with them – and a lot of kids, lacking this talisman, go berserk and scream themselves to sleep. Bill Bob had no one special talisman: Bill Bob had dreefees. None of us ever quite figured out the etymology of that word, but when I asked him years later Bill Bob thought it might be an amalgamation of ‘dream’ and ‘feed’ – food for dreams you might say.”

 David James Duncan

 When Sadie was little we tried to get her to take to a particular lovey--it was a mild mannered teddy bear named Murray.  But Murray never stuck.
For a long time, Sadie didn't have bedtime lovey at all, but around 19 or 20 months she began to bring "self-proclaimed loveys" to bed with her to snuggle with.  First it was a bunny I made, then, a wooden sea otter my brother Gabe carved--which was cute, until you woke up with it wedged under your back.  For a while it was a favorite ABC book, or another toy from the rotation of stuffed animals.  This summer, the list of things that need to go to bed with Sadie has grown a bit, and become more random.
For example--sometimes we need "ALL Sadie's friends" which consists of Tiger, two stuffed Dogs, Joey doll, Elmo, Owl, Baby Blue (a rubber whale that goes over the spout of the bathtub so kids don't bonk their heads) and a Curious George book.
Last night, there was just Tiger, a harmonica, two kitchen spoons, and a rat-tail comb (I had to take the last three things out after she fell asleep for safety sake) 
I was feeling a little disconcerted by this rotation of oddities in the bed, and then I remembered the little brother from David James Duncan's The River Why and his dreefees, and I realized, that is exactly what Sadie has.
Like many things about getting to know the small humans you are raising, Sadie's selection of dreefees is a source of amusement, wonder and curiosity to Loren and I...and even though lately we have been moving her into her own bed after she falls asleep, sometimes we still find strange things in the bed come morning.
At least we know how they got there now.  

Too much Falcon Punch: Sadie gets a big-girl bed.

I stole this illustration from google images because I am too effing tired to draw my own.  That's a sad state of affairs for me.

Up until the last couple of weeks we have been co-sleeping with Sadie and happy with that situation. This isn't a post to debate the pros and cons of letting baby sleep in your bed, because anyone who has a kid can tell you the best sleep arrangement is the one that works for you--and by "works" I mean "provides the maximum amount of sleep, and safety, for all parties involved." To keep you at the top of your parenting game, be prepared for this situation to change, maybe even frequently.  If I've learned one thing in the world of parenting so far, it is that SLEEP=SANITY.   Up until the last couple weeks I can honestly say that I have enjoyed sleeping with Sadie in the bed with me,  it has made night nursing so simple and easy, it has been a good bonding time for us, and she has been such a sweet snuggle bug.

So can I just say, WHAT HAPPENED?  Somewhere around the time Sadie turned 13 months the snuggle bug disappeared and the night ninja hit the scene in a major way.  Literally, it seemed to happen overnight.  Bedtime has become a long and drawn out ordeal. And when she finally does go to sleep, this new baby thrashes and punches me.  In her effort to have maximum contact with my body, she rolls herself over me and lays directly on top of my face.  She turn herself sideways in the bed and kicks my face, no matter how many times I try to gently re-situate her. Last night, in my sleep deprived delirium, I was narrating this nocturnal boxing match with some "FALCON PUNCH!" "SHOW ME YOUR MOVES!" "FALCON KICK!"  It was kind of funny, but kind of not funny...see SLEEP=SANITY above. I can't imagine all this night-time restlessness is good for Sadie either, especially since she seems to want to comfort nurse approximately one billion times a night now too. Last night was a last straw for me.  I am so wrecked today I feel like a mombie (mom-zombie)  My whole body hurts. I need some sleep to function... not a lot, but some.

So even though I was loathe to do it, I un-sidecarred Sadie's crib from our bed (shit, I've been the one who ends up in there most nights anyways), put it on the lowest setting, moved it to a corner of our room, and voila, a big-girl bed for Sadie.  She is taking a nap in there right now.  I should be taking a nap, but I am at that too tired to sleep stage.  Ug.

Tonight we begin the transition out of the big bed into the big girl bed.  My prediction: We have a stretch of sleepless nights in front of us, but it can't be any worse than the Falcon Punchfest that has been going down the last couple of weeks.

I am going to follow the Dr. Sears recommendation to help ease the transition with extra parent-baby contact time during the day (more rides in the ERGO, more snuggles, etc..), tanking up Sadie with an extra snack before bed, and using words to help her understand that when "Sadie goes night night, the nums go night-night too." If my blog entries seem to get less and less coherent, you can assume that our new plan is, um, working out NOT so good.

And can I just say to all you lucky devils who get to blissfully slumber through the night... A FALCON PUNCH TO YOUR HEAD! Enjoy it. SLEEP is a luxury that you take for granted until it goes away.