Sunday night wind-down

It is Sunday night and I am sitting with my two cats, Calvin and Mr. Hobbes, lying next to me on the couch. They have come to know that when Lilly is in bed I will give them rubs. Sometimes they even wait outside the upstairs gate for me. Sweet guys, even if they do annoy me at times! The best thing is that Lilly has been sleeping better. There are a few things at play there. Her top teeth are basically in. So the torture of the last 2 weeks had a reason behind it. I have instituted a bedtime routine for her. It is not perfect and sometimes, like tonight, she falls asleep before we can get to the routine. LOL I chose a quiet Baby Einstein lullaby CD that I won't want to pitch out the window next week. I play that every time she is going to sleep in her crib, even naps. I usually stop nursing her before she falls asleep so that she is a little awake when I put her in the crib. Sometimes I need her to nurse more than I need to put her into the crib awake, if that makes sense. I had moved up her bedtime by about an hour. On days when I am school, her schedule is totally messed up, but I try to get right back on track the next day.

I have been putting her down for 2 naps. And...she falls asleep on her own most times. I put her in her crib with her blankie and cookie monster and put the music on. I have even left her other toys in there. She will play for several minutes, then lay down and go to sleep. We have one of those video monitors so I can see exactly what is going on. Sometimes she will give a little protesting cry. The great thing with the video monitor is that I can look to see if she is down or up. If she is already laying down with her blankie, I don't need to go in because I know she will be asleep momentarily. If she is hanging on the crib rail, then it is time for me to go in. That was one of the best gifts I did not know I needed!

The good news is that I am slowly feeling that I am a little less sleep deprived. Hopefully over the next few weeks I can catch up on some much-needed sleep, a little at a time.

I am off to do that right now. Lilly will be up for her late-night feeding soon. I am so glad that I had 10 minutes to myself to unwind!