Nannies, Catnaps & Led Zepplin . . .

Well I know it's later than expected but I wanted to update you all on Thursday, our "Nanny Day" and a few other things . . .

Megan came over at about 10am. I was trying to get Sophie to nap. She woke at 8:15, ate and should have been down for her nap by 9-9:15am. So I was trying to get her down and she still wasn't asleep by the time Megan got there. I think it may have just thrown the whole day off. Anyway, more on that later . . .

Megan was very, very good. She is patient and good with Sophie. She took her right away and told me to go do what I needed to that she could handle her. Sadly I'm going to have to wrangle my OCD and bottle it up because it kicked into high gear. I couldn't leave her alone with Sophie until I thoroughly explained her schedule -- Eat, Waketime, Sleep, Over-stimulation, Swaddling, etc., etc. Poor Megan. She may quit before too long! Anyway . . . she unloaded my dishwasher for me and put all the dishes away. Again my OCD in high gear--I had to bite my tongue as I clenched my teeth when I watched her place my cups in all the wrong spots! Ahhh! I thought to myself, I think I'm seriously mentally ill! I couldn't wait to get to those cups and put them where they go once she left!!! Of course I let her do it, I mean it was so great that she was so voluntarily so helpful without me having to ask her to do things. I've never had a maid or someone I paid to help me do anything so this was all new to me. Plus everything in my house has a place, an exact place, and it has to stay that way! But she did put socks on Sophie's feet that matched her cute little outfit and I was very ecstatic about that! Anyway, I finally got in the shower while she was there and Tracy came over. We went to Chipotle for lunch, the bank and the grocery store. However, we ran out of time as Megan was leaving at 2pm and it was about 1:30. So Tracy and I headed back home and I paid her and told her she could go. It was about 1:45. Not 10 minutes after she left she calls me. I thought she must have forgotten something. She says, "I'm so sorry. I just looked at my clock and it's not even 2 o'clock yet. I shouldn't have left yet. I am so very sorry." I told her not to worry I knew what time it was and that I gave her "permission" to go! So, she's very professional and I think she's going to work out nicely for the few hours I'll have her here. Also, once she's got the hang of things it will be much easier for us both . . . or maybe for me and my crazy head!

Now back up a bit . . . Sophie's nap . . . or lack thereof. She had the worst nap day of all time that day. I felt so sorry for Megan. She tried to get her to sleep I think 90% of the time she was there! She succeeded twice but for some reason Sophie was just catnapping for about 20-30 minutes and wouldn't stay asleep or relaxed. She was just incredibly, incredibly over-stimulated. I've discovered that my little one gets over-stimulated at the drop of a hat. Sometimes holding her will do it and I have to put her in her bed and just rub her arm and make it dark and low-key to get her to relax. Megan was being very helpful and doing what she thought was best but I think she put Sophie's senses in overload. She put her in the swing, on the tummy-time mat, bounced her around in her arms and then rocked her. I told her that "maybe if you go in her room and just calmly sit in the rocker without rocking and rub on her gently you'll be able to get her to calm a bit . . ." and I think she did and it worked to some degree.

Anyway, Sophie remained this way the rest of the day and I could never get her to calm herself and relax enough to nap for her 2 hour nap (that's how long she's supposed to nap). She was a bit fussy, not a lot but mostly just wide awake but touchy. I could tell she was over-tired because she would cry at the drop of a hat. She would put on a super pouty lip, turn red in the face, suck in air, hold it and then let out a huge wail. It was ever so dramatic. She got really hot so we stripped her down, left her socks on. Here she is being cute in her swing.

I had a client at 6:30 and wanted to get a little nap in. I knew she was going to have none of that so we snuggled together in my bed. Daddy came home and snapped this of us before I woke up!

The night was good though. Oddly enough {knock on wood} she has great nights no matter what . . . and hey, that is not a complaint! But I got out my Baby Whisperer book again and read about over-stimulation and getting them to sleep. So yesterday morning I was excited to try those and see if we could get naptime to be actual naptime!

There are 3 signs of sleepiness according to the book and if you don't act before step 3 you may end up with a fussy baby who won't sleep! So I really tuned into those cues. Usually yawning is her cue, or she sometimes rubs her eyes. Book says that by yawn #3 you should have her where she is winding down and getting ready for naptime. In her case that meant taking away all stimuli and helping her relax. I had her in her swing and she yawned twice. I said, "Ok, that's #2 time to get to your room!" So we went to her room, I swaddled her snuggly and we sat in her rocker. I sang a little lullaby and her eyes began to get really heavy. That's when you put them in their bed--when they are getting sleepy but not asleep yet. This way they learn to fall asleep in their own bed and on their own, not in your arms. If they fall asleep in your arms often when you go to place them in their bed as soon as they hit the bed they cry and/or wake up. So, her eyes were heavy so I placed her gently in her bed and then just stood and rubbed her arm. Then I left the room and she went to sleep without a peep. She slept for an hour. Not great but better than 30 minutes. So it looks like I have to really tune into her and keep her under low stimulation or else she goes into over-drive and we go into disaster mode!

I also wanted to show you pictures of "Zep", short for Zepplin, as in the band. He is the darling Alaskan Malamute puppy I told you about the other day. I took my camera to his lesson on Thursday evening and got some pictures. The family has two boys, one is 5 and the other is 9. The 9 year old is very cute, quite talkative and says to me every time I'm there, "Yes, I have a few questions . . ." in a very serious tone like a student would in a seminar when speaking to the speaker. Then he says, after I show them how to do something, "ok, lemme try that . . ." It's cute and the puppy actually does the commands very well for the kid!

Ok. Well I'm looking forward to the cold today. Yippee--it's supposed to be in the 30s! It was 80 degrees the other day. What is that about? It's January!! Ugh, I wish we could see some snow this year! Then I could put Sophie in this poofy Pooh suit that someone gave me as a gift that she'll never be able to wear unless it gets really cold soon. She's going to out-grow it and definitely can only wear it if it's super, duper cold--this thing is really thick and warm! Maybe in February we'll get some true winter weather . . . we'll have to see! For now I've got to get to bed. I've got 3 clients to see today!