Reading Stories

Lydia must read stories to "Cocoa" (her pink bear) before falling asleep. Cocoa and Lydia had been reading for awhile and when I went to bed I found...

TOO Much Stuff!

Lydia has a bedtime ritual (that to some may annoy greatly but at the Stojan House we consider it OK!).

After James and I tuck her in, read, pray, kiss and hugs, Lydia spends the next 30 - 45 minutes reading books in her room. Most nights she just falls asleep on her own after playing for awhile. Some nights she needs a parental intervention (i.e. remove the books, turn off the night light, and close the door!) at the 45 minute mark.

Last night Lydia was nearing the 45 minute mark and was obviously getting very tired but wasn't settling down. So I was finishing the chapter in my book and going to go "help" her along. But before I could get up there I heard a huge thump and genuine tears. So I went upstairs and the Princess is sitting in the middle of her bed and in distress. I asked her what was wrong and was told "too much stuff can't sleep".

Oh my! Don't you hate when you are sooooooo tired that you can't figure out how to solve a very simple "problem"???

Sometimes You Just NEED to Whine...

Lydia was having an "off night". James and I were not positive what was going on but she was just in a funk.

Examples (there were many examples but we will leave it at the most memorable!):

Lydia: Mom lift me up (into her car seat)
Mom does this ever increasing task with the 28lb child! Lydia then climbs out of the seat.
Lydia: I do it myself.
Five minutes later Lydia is standing in her seat backwards and mom is still standing in the rain!
Mom's frustration grows and Lydia gets a consequence.

Finally by 7pm when she was given a second chance to eat her dinner and instead she chose to throw her cup of milk across the room. Followed by her fork. Lydia earned herself the opportunity to be in bed by 7:20! Good job Lydia.

Lydia fell right to sleep but at 9 she started coughing. So I decided OH she must be getting sick (I love explanations for why you were a turkey for the past 4 - 5 hours!). The coughing continued so I went into check on her only to discover that she had mastered a very genuine sounding but oh so fake cough. (The giggles after a super dramatic coughing fit were a dead giveaway).

I put the child back to sleep and went to bed myself.

Only to a couple hours later be awoken by the princess crying. So I went to check on her and immediately she stopped jumping on her bed and whining and went to smiling. BUSTED! Laid her back down.

30 seconds later the whining resumes. Yes, being the merciful parent that I am I rolled over. But the fake whining only continued.  Which got me to laughing at the comical scene that I was living at 1 AM (seriously - I have never had the desire to whine LOUDLY at 1AM!?!?!?!).

I got my laughter under control and went to tell the princess that she needed to go back to sleep.

But then I walked in the room and saw the princess, jumping on her bed, playing with her animals, happy as could be, but whining as LOUDLY as she could. I started laughing. But did tell Lydia to lay back down and go to sleep. Thankfully she did ;) It took James and I awhile to stop giggling so we could go back to sleep!

Apparently sometimes you just need to whine a bit :)

P.S. Yes, Lydia earned herself a consequence for her actions and thankfully learned her lesson in just one night!

Magical Motrin

Lydia has a new trick every single night before she goes to bed, her nose, knee, toe, etc... hurts and she NEEDS pink medicine. Thankfully pink medicine is kept way far out of her reach!

But every night I listen to her long list of ailments (you would think she was 102 and not 2!) and then use my best judgement if there is a real need. 9 nights out of 10, I send her to bed with a tear filled eye because she just needs pink medicine. And I tell her she is perfectly healthy little girl who just needs sleep.

Last night, she was awake. Allot! All night. Finally at 4 AM, when I was out of ideas and so tired I relented and let her have pink medicine. But we were almost out of pink medicine and there was not much left of Motrin. So I added water. She licked the cup delighted that she got the pink medicine. Would you believe before she had even had the water - I mean Motrin - in her body for less than a minute she already felt SO much better.

Motrin and water is a magical combination!

Today I took the old bottle of Motrin, mixed up sugar water, a little food coloring, shook the bottle up, marked the bottle "Magical Motrin", and put it high on the medicine shelf. I am guessing that we might need some additional magical Motrin one night/early morning. Because some nights all the ailments in the world are really just mental and a little water - or ummmm "Magical Motrin" - helps you go right to sleep!

Last Burst of Energy Before Bed

Some things never change. And Lydia's energy level before bed is through the roof! Not sure if she is getting tired and must be active in order to stay awake or the delight at getting to play with Dad. But something occurs and we have a very happy, giggly, full of energy little girl (and DAD!) running through the house. 

Ball, couch, Dad, and a desire to climb the ball. Recipe for disaster or allot of fun ;) 

Who will get the ball first???

Catching their breath

Flips! 

The great part about this game - after a before bed ball session with Dad we do not hear a single peep out of this little girl all night! 

Lydia's Declarations

People! I have arrived!!!!!!! My peeps introduced me to the most wonderful invention ever this week! Can you say, "night light".

When  I was little this entire night light concept irritated me. I would scream and scream and scream if there was a light on in the upstairs part of my world at night. Come on I spent months and months in my safe dark cocoon and slept just fine. Why now that I am in the world and just struggling to get used to EVERYTHING do you all think that I need a light to sleep? Just one more thing to learn to like and I couldn't handle it.

But now that I am a big girl, I hear noises at night. I see shapes. I know bad things could happen (did I mention that we were OUT of Goldfish for a couple hours last week???). Dad wanted me to have a energy efficient night light (it glowed blue?!?!?). Mom gave me a pretty purple night light with star cut outs though. This pretty night light casts a warm and cozy glow through out my bedroom. Mom won and I got a pretty night light that turns off during the day so it is energy efficient too (Dad says that his night light will just cost pennies to operate in a year!).

When I roll over at night I can check out my world and see that all is right in the world. My bear can find me. My blankets can make sure they stick close to me. When cars turn around on our street, I don't even notice the light because my room is all lit up like a Christmas Tree! I love my pretty purple night light. I just wish that I would have learned to like it earlier in life :)

Playing Ball With Dad

Their new nightly ritual... Why this calms Lydia down for a great nights sleep I really don't understand. But a quick game of football, sends Lydia to bed with giggles, a smile, AND she sleeps all night. So football it is!

Dad chasing the ball. 

Lydia throwing the ball and cheering dad along! 

And she gets off her throne to be chased! 

And after all that play, a quick game of felt board fun is in order!

Something Wonderful about a Clean Baby and Pajamas...

Before Bed Burst on Energy - All in About 2 minutes of time

Playing with Mom's purse

Running Away

Running Quickly! 

Slowing down for a brief moment.

Oops, dropped the purse. 

Dragging the purse just a moment longer. 

Saying goodnight to Dad.

After all that hoopla, a snack, a drink, stories, chat about the day, and a prayer she was quickly asleep. And I wonder why it is so important for Lydia to have a simple snack before bed - it is the only way we can get her to sit down long enough to cool down!

Words are not even needed...

This picture is going to be framed. Sometimes I just a reminder at how angelic Lydia can look ;)

Molars

Lydia is getting new molars. The first molar broke through her gums with no tears and I did not even notice until one day when she was giggling and there was a brand new sparkling tooth hanging out in the back of her mouth. Surprise. I thought to myself "these molars are not as bad as everybody says".

THEN a week later the second molar decided to start pushing it's way through. I can tell you exactly - down to the hour when this little painful tooth decided to interrupt our household.

But I have learned that Tylenol 30 minutes before meal time = Lydia being able to inhale her dinner.

Lydia doesn't really hate her dad. When she has new teeth coming in apparently it is mom's fault and therefore we must keep her within whining distance.

When she can't sleep at night, the ultimate punishment is ten minutes laying in mom and dad's bed and then she has a new love and appreciation for her own bed and will go back to sleep.

The good news we have 5.5 teeth already broke though the gums and only 10.5 left to go in her second year of life. Since we seem to be doing one new tooth every week I have high hopes that by Christmas she will have her first 16 teeth and we can have a little break (don't be the bearer of bad news to me, ok?). By the way I see it, Lydia is giving us the gift of a sweet, giggly, and sleeping baby for Christmas. (Seriously, let me live in my dream world - no night time dreams have been happening and this is the greatest day dream I can dream up right now!).

Lydia's Pledge - The Result

Nope, she did not keep her end of the bargain. So we are still not taking very nice naps :( Eventually she will be back to SLEEPING - think she is trying to figure out this walking thing!

Lydia's Pledge

I, Lydia Stojan, do solemnly pledge to take ONE nice nap today. I agree to no whining. I agree to smiles and eating well. I will be a blessing to all I come across today.

Signed, Yours Truly Lydia!

P.S. If you let me get away with this I promise to sleep in in the mornings and take a nice two to three hour nap in the afternoon!

Jury is still out if she keeps her end of the bargain. But we are giving it a whirl today with just one nap.Wish us luck for an evening of no whining and an easy to put to bed baby tonight!!!!!