Still trying not to laugh . . . and failing miserably!

Eleanor has been giving me trouble about naps lately. She’s actually causing me to wonder if I’m about to see the end of her napping days, but I’m not ready to accept that. I live for those naps; I depend on them for my sanity. She’s fairly cooperative when we prepare for her nap, willingly going into her bed and laying down. Then, I’m not sure if she never actually goes to sleep or if she falls asleep and something wakes her up (which wouldn’t be hard considering new sounds from Phaedra or the neighbors). I usually know she’s fallen asleep when I hear her binkies drop from her bed. Right now, she sleeps with one binky in the mouth and one in each hand (no, I’m not proud of it). So, when she gets really relaxed, the binkies fall from her hands, often onto the hardwood floor, crashing down loud enough for me to hear it outside her room. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what is waking her up every time, except that I know it doesn’t wake her at night.

Yesterday, we had an all-out battle, with me trying to convince her to take a nap after I had heard her playing in her bed. I would have left her to play in her bed if she had been quiet enough for me to sleep while she did it, but she was pretty noisy. And, it was one of those days when I oh-so-desperately needed a nap. So we went the rounds. I took away all the babies she had in her bed, and last night, she wasn’t allowed to sleep with a toy. I told her she could earn her babies back if she took a good nap today, and I put her down for her nap with nothing but a pillow, a blanket, and her binkies.

So, today was sounding like it was going to be another frustrating day without her taking a decent nap. She was quiet at first. Eventually, I heard two binkies drop. Then, the neighbor made a ton of noise right by her window, doing who-knows-what with some kind of metal, scraping who-knows-what. Soon after, I heard the tell-tale thumps indicating that she was awake. I tried to ignore it, telling myself that as long as she didn’t start jabbering, there still might be a chance that she’d quiet down again and go back to sleep.

A while later, I heard her start to cry, the cry getting quickly more intense. I wasn’t sure as to the sincerity of the cry, but I decided to check on her anyway. I went into her room with Phaedra hooked under one arm. As I entered and looked at her bed, I didn’t see her. I only saw her blanket and her pillow that was moved into the middle of the bed. The cry grew louder and more panicked. I walked over to the bed and looked in to realize that the pillow was squirming and writhing along with the cries. She had crawled into her pillowcase and couldn’t get out! Her whole body was crammed into the pillowcase alongside the pillow. She was squirming for all she was worth; it looked as if she thought she could burrow her way out of there if she just kept struggling. Stifling a giggle, I grabbed the end of the case with one hand and pulled. All her struggling was keeping her stuck. I didn’t have a place to put Phae down, not wanting to rest her on the cold, hard floor, so I continued my efforts one-handed. I told her to hold still so I could get her out. She lessened her struggle slightly, and I shook my terrified little girl out of the pillowcase like a sack of potatoes, still trying not to laugh. She was totally freaked out. I had to hold her and comfort her for a bit. I used it as a lesson that if she had listened to Mommy and taken a nap, none of this have happened (served her right!). I rocked her a few minutes and put her back in her bed to try to nap. We’ll see if she learned her lesson.

Since she was so scared, I feel a little guilty that it tickled me so much. But, come on, it was hilarious!