And then a miracle happened...

We put Babykins down in her bed, gave her kisses, said "Goodnight", climbed into our own bed, and she fell asleep.  By herself.  Just like that.  Miracles do happen.

Darn you, Technology!

Our monitor broke.  So I took the opportunity to buy a video monitor.

It is addictive.  I barely slept last night.  How am I supposed to go to bed when I can just lie there and watch Babykins sleep?

I used to scoff at the idea of a video monitor, but now I don't know how I survived the last 21 months without one.

Oh, evil, evil technology.

I Don't Want To, You Can't Make Me

Despite being only 11 months old, Babykins has definite opinions.  One of the things she often has an opinion about is going to sleep.  If she's ready for bed, she'll be out in seconds, lying limply in my arms as her pacifier falls out of her mouth.  If she's decided that staying up would be more fun, though, Babykins has a large arsenal of tricks to keep herself awake.

If going to bed were a chess match, it would go something like this:

Enter room, get comfy on bed.  Babykins refuses to nurse.
Mommykins knows she's in trouble, but foolishly remains optimistic.
Babykins shakes head back and forth.
Mommykins counters by stroking Babykins' forehead.  Watch out, Pawn, you're in trouble now!
Babykins grabs Mommykins' hand and, with a strength that no baby should have, holds it still.  Mommykins' Knight leaves the board.
Mommykins retaliates by singing, very quietly and soothingly, her full repertoire of Disney songs.  Take that, Rook!
Babykins slowly closes her eyes to lull Mommykins into a false sense of security, then with a great heave rolls off Mommykins' lap.  Goodbye, Bishop.
But Mommykins isn't out of the game yet.  She pulls out the big guns, gently rubbing Babykins' back where she lies on the bed.
Babykins can't be stopped.  She counters by rolling across the bed, with complete disregard for the edges of the mattress.  She's stalking Mommykins' Queen with finesse.
Mommykins dips into her bag of tricks and once again tries nursing Babykins.  Babykins' eyes begin to close and her breathing slows.  Check!!
But just when Mommykins thinks she's won, Babykins slowly reaches up her hand, pops her pacifier out of her mouth, throws it across the room with all her might, and looks up at Mommykins with a mischievous grin.  Check and Mate!

At which point Mommykins graciously admits defeat and returns Babykins to the living room and her toys.  You may have won today, Babykins, but we will meet again.

Sick Girl and Co-Sleeping

Babykins came down with her first cold this weekend, at 9 1/2 months (I swear I don't over-shelter her - she just has an excellent immune system).  It started with a little cough on Friday, then escalated to a strong cough and fever on Saturday. 

This led to Babykins sleeping with us Saturday night.  We have always avoided co-sleeping, not because sleeping with a little baby isn't sweet, but because we already barely sleep, and our bed in Hawaii is especially small. 

The first time I woke up, she was snuggled in my arm, which had long fallen asleep.  The second time I woke up, she was on her back with arms and legs splayed wide, Hubbykins and I huddling on the extreme edges of the bed.  The third time I woke up because she had turned sideways and was trying to burrow her head into my stomach while kicking Hubbykins in the ribs.

I'm pleased to say everyone's recovering from Babykins' first cold.  Babykins is on the mend, with just a runny nose and occasional cough left of her cold, and Hubbykins and I once again have our bed back.  That cold has been dominated!

On Your Mark...Get Set...Go!

In the ongoing quest for a good night's sleep, Hubbykins and I are on a daily mission to thoroughly tire out Babykins.  This has led to a nightly post-dinner, pre-bath "race" up and down the hallway of our apartment building.

One of us goes down to the end of the hallway to clap, cheer, and call Babykins' name.  Since Babykins prefers to walk, the other person holds her hands and helps her make her way.  This always results in a huge smile, and each night Babykins get a little faster.  When she makes it down the hall, Hubbykins and I switch places and help her walk back to the apartment.

I'm sure it sounds odd to the neighbors - clapping, cheering, and high-pitched baby giggles going up and down the hall - but so far they've all been polite enough not to peek outside.

By the end of the race, Babykins is sweaty and tired, Hubbykins and I have sore backs, and we're all ready for bedtime.

One day, when Babykins is preparing to run the 100-yard-dash in the Olympics, we'll be able to tell her how it all began - in a hallway in Hawaii.

Babykins' Hallway Racetrack

The Saga Continues...

After discovering that Babykins doesn't like sleeping in her "cage," Hubbykins and I baby-proofed her room and moved her mattress to the floor.  This was fantastic.  Babykins went right to sleep the next night.  About an hour after bedtime, though, she rolled off the mattress.  No big deal - it's only an inch thick.  We put her back on the mattress, and she immediately passed out.

By the fourth time she rolled off the mattress that night, I was exhausted.  I never knew there were so many ways to fall out of bed.  There's the scootch to the bottom and end up sitting on the floor at the foot of the mattress method.  There's the head hanging off the side approach.  There's the sleeping with head on mattress while kneeling on the floor position.  And, of course, the ever popular getting disoriented and crawling off the side.

So last night, Hubbykins and I decided to try having Babykins just sleep on the floor.  Not only would she be out of the cage, but, as the popular saying goes, "Babies can't fall off the floor."  While having your baby sleep on the floor may sound a little tough, I think we did a lovely job setting up a bed for her.  We tucked the edges of the blanket under the dresser and bed so that she couldn't get tangled, then crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.

Aside from just looking pretty, this bed had a number of deluxe features to make it especially Babykins friendly.  Notice the dresser drawer, taped shut to keep Babykins from pulling it open in the night (I swear, we did try to just remove the handle, but it's not as easy as it seems).

Also take note of the multiple pacifiers, in an attempt to have one always within Babykins' reach.

We also left a few non-chokeable toys nearby in the hope that if Babykins woke up during the night, she might quietly entertain herself (yes, we're slightly delusional).

Finally, we put up a barricade to keep Babykins from engaging in her favorite activity - rolling under the bed.

It didn't really work, of course.  Babykins still woke up multiple times during the night, crying for her pacifier, wanting her back rubbed, and needing to eat.  But not once did she fall off the mattress.

Babykins' Bedtime Diary

7:15 - Used to be bedtime.  Have trained parents that this is bad bedtime.  In highchair eating Cheerios.
8:15 - Get ready for bed.  Fall asleep in mama's arms while eating.
8:30 - Something's wrong!  Open eyes.  Mama's putting me down in cage thing.  Cry.
8:40 - Have been turned, rolled, patted, and rubbed.  Still in cage thing.  Cry more.
8:45 - Parents finally get it.  Am removed from cage.
9:00 - Crying was invigorating.  Playing in living room.
9:15 - Ready for bed, again.  Fall asleep in mama's arms while eating.
9:30 - Parents not as dumb as they seem.  Have moved mattress out of cage, onto floor.
11:30 - Forget there's no cage.  Roll off mattress onto floor.  Cry.
12:30 - Try to suck pacifier.  Where is pacifier?!  Cry.
2:30 - Sleeping is hard work.  Hungry.  Cry.  Eat.
4:30 - Pacifier gone again.  Know how to put it back in.  Too tired.  Cry.
5:30 - Roll onto tummy.  Forget there's no cage.  Sleep with legs on floor, head on mattress.  Is this what it feels like to have a pillow?
6:30 - Feeling refreshed.  Wake up, parents!  Time to play!

Training: 1, Sleep: 0

Awhile ago, we discovered that Babykins likes to sleep on her side.  Roll her on her side when she wakes up at night, and you're guaranteed almost instant sleep.  With her new found proficiency at rolling, however, she has started to flip from her back or side onto her tummy.

For most babies, this would be a dream come true.  After months of being placed on the back to sleep (Back is Best!), having the ability to switch to tummy sleeping is a great change.  And Babykins desperately wants to sleep on her tummy.  The problem is that she's too well trained.

We spent months teaching her that tummy time means raising your head, pushing up on your arms, and trying to move.  So when Babykins rolls onto her tummy at night, despite being exhausted, she raises her head, pushes up on her arms, crawls backwards until she's stuck in a corner of her crib, and begins to cry.  It's one of the saddest things I've seen.

Especially since, unlike other babies, Babykins seems unable to figure out how to put her head down.  Which meant that I spent much of last night trying to re-train Babykins in the art of lowering her head to the mattress and turning it to the side.  She finally got the hang of head lowering, but the turning part remains elusive.  Thus, Hubbykins and I spent the night sleeping in her room so that I could check every couple hours that she was still breathing despite having her face smashed directly down in the mattress.

Oh, baby raising book, why don't you cover the topic, "What to do when your child won't turn her head"?