it worked!

Captain's Log, Stardate 2006:
The first attempt was a success. Subject remained in bed from 8:00 pm to 8:30 am. Any thoughts of fully awakening were quickly remedied with nursing back to sleep before both eyes opened. The length of each sleep stretch is unknown, as this writer chose to turn the clock away from the bed. The fact remains, however, that subject did not stay awake until 1 am.
The one downside to the success of this experiment is that some time around 2:30 am, this writer discovered that the sleeping subject's diaper was very, very wet. Guiltily debated whether to wake subject for a diaper change, at the risk of subject staying awake indefinitely, or pretending not to know and hoping that this would not lead to a rash. This writer chose the latter route, which led to a period of guilty wakefulness over the decision. Still no diaper rash as of this writing.

Tonight we'll see if the success continues . . .

bedtime: the saga continues

Last night, bedtime lasted two and a half hours. It started with soft Christmas music, Goodnight Moon, and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." It ended, as usual, with nursing in our bed at 1 am. I have rehashed everything that happened in between far too many times today. But bear in mind, by bedtime I mean, when I want Ghoulie to fall asleep. I am not even counting the hour and a half beforehand that she was bathed, cuddled, nursed, and cuddled some more.
A huge, huge part of this bedtime problem is our fault; we have trouble creating the idea that it is nighttime before 11:00. To us it's nighttime -- but to Ghoulie, it's all the same. People to catnap on, then wake up and play with. Lights and TV and conversation. Who could sleep?
So I am taking responsibility and creating a very loose sleep schedule that will work for Ghoulie. I woke her up this morning at 9:00. She was pretty pissed about it. After short naps during the day -- no, I don't advocate short naps, but apparently Ghoulie does. One thing at a time here, okay? -- she was rubbing her head on my shoulder at 6:30. I cruelly kept her awake by playing with her until 7:45, at which time she fell asleep in the car on the drive home from my parents'.
Now, at 8:30, she is asleep in our bed, where she will stay for the night. She already woke up once to nurse, but she drifted off once she was finished.
For now, I'm thinking of it as an experiment. Keep your fingers crossed for happy results. I'll report on my findings tomorrow.

appearances can be deceiving

The Little Ghoulie is, at first glance, a delicate little thing. Slightly small for her age, nice and round but still petite. Her eyes are big and somber, the rest of her features are -- dare I say it? -- dainty. Little nose, little mouth, little ears. (Little hair, too, but we've already covered that.) When she meets new people, she gives them a dainty little grin and they think she is so sweet and innocent and fragile.

Her Daddy and I never bought into that act.

And lately, we have proven ourselves right. Ghoulie has two favorite new tricks: First, the biggest, loudest raspberries in the world. I mean, the kind that makes giant bubbles on her chin. That trick is, admittedly, hilarious and adorable. The second, though, I could do without.

She grunts.

A lot.

Loud, long grunts that at first made both grandmothers ask when she had last pooped. But then she pooped, and kept right on grunting. She has taken to doing this in grocery store lines, in church during prayer time, and in the middle of pivotal scenes during Law and Order: SVU. And in the middle of her mommy desperately trying to blog for once.

The grunting appears to accompany teething pain, tiredness, hunger, diaper wetness, and general boredom. It also surfaces when Ghoulie does not get what she wants -- which tonight was popcorn and Craisins. If she sees anyone else eating something, she wants it. (The very same reason her Daddy now insists that her Mommy order a separate dessert when they go out, instead of saying, "Just bring a second spoon.") And if by some chance Ghoulie gets a taste of something, but then that something is taken away, look out. All hell with be broken loose by the delicate six-month-old flower.

Between Jake and I, we figured we were bound to have an opinionated, willful child. We just didn't expect that fact to surface just yet.

this can't be "regular"

We haven't been getting a whole lot of sleep lately. And you know why?
Well, mostly because both mine and Jake's schedules have changed dramatically in the past month. Lots of early mornings -- every weekday for him, two weekdays for me. We're trying to go to bed earlier. We're slowly resolving the baby sleep issues. But Ghoulie felt left out, being the only person whose schedule didn't change much (or at least, as little as possible). So, big girl that she is (solid foods and all), she took matters into her own hands: She had decided that 10:30 pm is her new preferred time to poop.