Out for a walk.
Wall-E holding her bug.
Reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Eleanor's hair the day after having braids. Move over, Cyndi Lauper!
Watching a show on a day she skipped a nap. They sat together contently for a long time.
This month has been full of changes for Eleanor.
Let me backtrack a little to explain that last month (or maybe it was the end of December), Eleanor had her first real nightmare. It was a really bad one. She was incoherent and screaming for quite a while and completely unwilling to go back to her bed. We finally had to let her wake up enough to become aware that she was safe. It wasn’t until then that she let us soothe her and put her back to bed. That day, she had watched the movie Bolt for the first time, which I think was a little too much for her. I can’t be sure, though. It was a busy day. I had had an emotional morning, and she had missed her nap. But, to be safe, she’s not watching that movie again until she’s twelve :)
That was somehow the beginning of a nightmare or night-fright (I’m not sure she’s always asleep when it happens) phase, because since then, she has been waking up afraid in the night from time to time. More recently, she's been saying she heard a bump or a sound that was scary. Sometimes she says the bump jumped in her bed, wiggled her bed, or moved her bed. She has even acted afraid to go to bed because of the possibility of her hearing one of these scary sounds. Daddy has taken these opportunities to demonstrate his power and authority by telling the sounds to go away and telling Eleanor they have to obey him. I have used these times to (hopefully) teach her the value of prayer by saying a prayer with her to help her feel safe.
A little over a week ago, she had one of these episodes about an hour after we had put her to bed. We were in the family room watching TV, and since Phaedra hasn’t been interested in sleep lately, she was with us, playing on the floor. We didn’t hear her at first, but when I realized she was screaming, I hurried to get to her. By the time I was in the hall, I could hear her clawing at her door! Mind you, Eleanor still sleeps in a crib, and that was the FIRST. TIME. EVER. that she got out of her crib by herself. I guess she just never had enough motivation to try it before. We had left a box next to her bed that holds her extra blankets. I think she climbed out into that, but I could be wrong. The one time she demonstrated for me, she didn’t use it.
Once she had done it, there was no reason for her to stop. Any time she woke up in the night after that, she would come wandering out of her room to find us. Grant put her in bed for a nap that Sunday, and a few minutes later, she came wandering out, saying, “I tried and tried to sleep, but I can’t.”
With this new development, the urgency increased for her to have her own bed. Grant and I both have dragged our feet on the issue since many people have told us to keep her in the crib as long as she wasn’t climbing out, because as soon as we got her a real bed, she would be in our room every night. Lately, I have been a strong advocate for getting her a bed because I want her to feel more grown up and independent. The budget and the problem of having to go out and find one have held us back. My mother was kind enough to give us my old bed that I slept on in high school (practically new).
I went out and bought a safety rail for it last Tuesday, and since the box had a picture of a bed on it, Eleanor thought it was her new bed. She kept asking me when we could get it out for her to sleep on it. So, Grant borrowed his dad’s truck on Wednesday and went to pick up her bed. It was so late when we got home that night, that we didn’t set it up until Thursday. That was her first night in it. She was so excited about it. She stayed in her room all night, and in the morning, after watching a few shows, she told me she was tired and wanted to go back to bed. She spent about a half hour playing quietly in her bed by herself. This step was so overdue for her. I feel bad it took us so long, but I’m glad she’s so excited about it and doing so well at sleeping in it.
Another change that happened this month has to do with naps. They are definitely going away. I’ve seen hints of this in the past, but I didn’t want to admit it. At first, I fought it desperately, not wanting to give up my afternoon time alone. But, I’m coming to terms with it, and for now, I think Eleanor looks at it as some sort of privilege to be awake during the time she would normally be napping, so she’s usually on her best behavior. She still takes a nap some days, but I don't count on it. We switched to "quiet time" in her bed, and that results in a nap as long as she stays put. I give her several books to look at and tell her to put them at the bottom of her bed when she is ready to sleep.
Eleanor became rather socially starved after being sick for so long last month. She perks right up the second she hears the words play date, and asks if she can have one. We managed one just before Phaedra and she became ill again (sigh). I'm trying to still get us out and about even if we can't do play dates. We've gone to the store or Grandma's or to visit Daddy at work.
Let me backtrack a little to explain that last month (or maybe it was the end of December), Eleanor had her first real nightmare. It was a really bad one. She was incoherent and screaming for quite a while and completely unwilling to go back to her bed. We finally had to let her wake up enough to become aware that she was safe. It wasn’t until then that she let us soothe her and put her back to bed. That day, she had watched the movie Bolt for the first time, which I think was a little too much for her. I can’t be sure, though. It was a busy day. I had had an emotional morning, and she had missed her nap. But, to be safe, she’s not watching that movie again until she’s twelve :)
That was somehow the beginning of a nightmare or night-fright (I’m not sure she’s always asleep when it happens) phase, because since then, she has been waking up afraid in the night from time to time. More recently, she's been saying she heard a bump or a sound that was scary. Sometimes she says the bump jumped in her bed, wiggled her bed, or moved her bed. She has even acted afraid to go to bed because of the possibility of her hearing one of these scary sounds. Daddy has taken these opportunities to demonstrate his power and authority by telling the sounds to go away and telling Eleanor they have to obey him. I have used these times to (hopefully) teach her the value of prayer by saying a prayer with her to help her feel safe.
A little over a week ago, she had one of these episodes about an hour after we had put her to bed. We were in the family room watching TV, and since Phaedra hasn’t been interested in sleep lately, she was with us, playing on the floor. We didn’t hear her at first, but when I realized she was screaming, I hurried to get to her. By the time I was in the hall, I could hear her clawing at her door! Mind you, Eleanor still sleeps in a crib, and that was the FIRST. TIME. EVER. that she got out of her crib by herself. I guess she just never had enough motivation to try it before. We had left a box next to her bed that holds her extra blankets. I think she climbed out into that, but I could be wrong. The one time she demonstrated for me, she didn’t use it.
Once she had done it, there was no reason for her to stop. Any time she woke up in the night after that, she would come wandering out of her room to find us. Grant put her in bed for a nap that Sunday, and a few minutes later, she came wandering out, saying, “I tried and tried to sleep, but I can’t.”
With this new development, the urgency increased for her to have her own bed. Grant and I both have dragged our feet on the issue since many people have told us to keep her in the crib as long as she wasn’t climbing out, because as soon as we got her a real bed, she would be in our room every night. Lately, I have been a strong advocate for getting her a bed because I want her to feel more grown up and independent. The budget and the problem of having to go out and find one have held us back. My mother was kind enough to give us my old bed that I slept on in high school (practically new).
I went out and bought a safety rail for it last Tuesday, and since the box had a picture of a bed on it, Eleanor thought it was her new bed. She kept asking me when we could get it out for her to sleep on it. So, Grant borrowed his dad’s truck on Wednesday and went to pick up her bed. It was so late when we got home that night, that we didn’t set it up until Thursday. That was her first night in it. She was so excited about it. She stayed in her room all night, and in the morning, after watching a few shows, she told me she was tired and wanted to go back to bed. She spent about a half hour playing quietly in her bed by herself. This step was so overdue for her. I feel bad it took us so long, but I’m glad she’s so excited about it and doing so well at sleeping in it.
Another change that happened this month has to do with naps. They are definitely going away. I’ve seen hints of this in the past, but I didn’t want to admit it. At first, I fought it desperately, not wanting to give up my afternoon time alone. But, I’m coming to terms with it, and for now, I think Eleanor looks at it as some sort of privilege to be awake during the time she would normally be napping, so she’s usually on her best behavior. She still takes a nap some days, but I don't count on it. We switched to "quiet time" in her bed, and that results in a nap as long as she stays put. I give her several books to look at and tell her to put them at the bottom of her bed when she is ready to sleep.
Eleanor became rather socially starved after being sick for so long last month. She perks right up the second she hears the words play date, and asks if she can have one. We managed one just before Phaedra and she became ill again (sigh). I'm trying to still get us out and about even if we can't do play dates. We've gone to the store or Grandma's or to visit Daddy at work.
Some Eleanor-isms:
- When she is about to read a book, she says the title and then says, "by Heaven Martin." I don't know how she came up with that one, but apparently, this person wrote every book in our house.
- I love the way she says the words, "That would be a good/great idea." It's as if she's been scheming some sort of trick in her head, and I just gave her the perfect solution for how to carry it out.
- Last month, she picked up the word "Whew!" For a while, she said it all the time, in all sorts of situations. It's a bit more rare now, which makes me sad because it always made me smile to hear her say it.
- With all her pretending to be someone/thing else, it all stops if she gets hurt or throws a fit. If she is currently Wall-E before getting hurt, and you say, "Come here, Wall-E." She replies with a very adamant, "I am not Wall-E. I am just Eleanor!" When she's throwing a fit, you can really get into trouble by calling her the wrong name.
- Eleanor loves to go to "Studio Grandma's and Studio Grandpa's" house (Grant's parents). She loves to watch a DVD they have of old Chip and Dale cartoons. She calls the movie (and the pair of chipmunks) "Chicken Dale." I guess she gets it from her mother who grew up watching her favorite movie, "Peach Dragon."
- After being told over and over not to say no to her parents, Eleanor is learning to differentiate between types of nos. At first, she would answer a question such as, "Is your diaper wet?" and after saying no, she would ask, "I told you no?" I would explain that it was okay for her to say no when answering a question but not when she was being disobedient. Now, she will answer no, and then ask, "That's a nice no?"
Eleanor in her big girl bed.Reading:
That is so funny that all your books have been written by Heaven Martin. Kids seriously say the funniest things! You'll have to let me know when they are feeling better so we can do a play date. My girls just got over some 3 week bug - I can't wait for summer that is for sure!
ReplyDelete