hide-n-(sensory)-seeking

I have multiple things I'm working on and attempting to get out of my head and into posts, but this is slow going and often interrupted. I am deep in the midst of Burnout. Have been, to a greater or lesser degree, for the last two years in fact, but this time feels worse than the others. It's much slower digging out, and the hole feels much deeper this time, but I'm slogging away at it nevertheless. One of the things I have been wanting to do is to re-post some of my older posts. I know not everyone has the time, energy, or desire to read through two years of archive posts. So I will, over the next few weeks, re-share some of my favorites. Reading back over these, it's amazing both how close and far away these days feel. We've made much progress in so many areas. Others were better back then, but prove challenging right now. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy reminiscing with me. The following piece was originally posted September 30, 2013, while we were still primari...

 If you're just joining us and you are wondering why I need to figure out how to transition my baby from the couch into the toddler bed we just bought (fantastic flea market find!), you can get all caught up here , here , here , and the first few paragraphs here .   Our mission :   Get this baby -     To sleep in this bed -       In our room. Someday. This year?     Step one: get baby onto bed.         Almost...     Check!     Step two: get baby to understand that it is not just a trampoline.     Ummmm...maybe later.   Step three: introduce pillow.         Okay...abort further pillow attempts.   Step four: associate bed with a plesant experience.     Check!   Step five: explain concept of "ni-night" on new bed....

Well, maybe not as exciting as the title led you to believe, but we kept busy yesterday anyway. Here is the surprise I walked in on. Kit was sitting right in the middle of it when I found her. Feeding herself fistfuls of course. Half of a giant bag of Rice Krispies dumped out on the bench. Miraculously, there was relatively little on the floor. Grace's animals seem happy to have a snack! To put in perspective how much cereal this is, here it is in my 13x9 inch baking dish. This was what we were able to salvage for future consumption. Hope your Sunday afternoon was far more relaxing!  Here's what else she's been up to. She has a new sleep oddity to add to her ever growing list. In the past we've occasionally laid a pillow over her legs and hips to provide pressure when she sleeps. Sometimes it works and others not so much. Lately though, as in for the last five days, she has been wanting a pillow on her. She has actually pulled one on to...

Kit's sleep issues have morphed. Now she can only fall asleep if someone else, specifically, Daddy, holds her. This is a wonderful blessing in many ways! I have a reliable way now for her to get a nap and I can (usually) work on some chores. This backfires on Victor's workdays though. Some days, her nap can wait until he gets home if he's done early enough. On Tuesday he stayed an extra 15 or 20 minutes when he came home for lunch to put her to sleep. After she conked out, I moved her to the couch and Daddy went back to work. Thursday and Friday were not so lovely and peaceful around here at naptime. There was no Daddy, but there was certainly one sleepy little girl. Boy can she put up a fight when she's determined, which is, well - always.   Thursday was bad, but pretty short. Only 30 minutes or so before she caved. Yesterday, it was war! I read her stories. I had the fan on. I tried her noise machine. I put on music. We rocked. We didn't rock. So...

I'm trapped in the bathroom. Trapped because if I open the door and go out, then Kit will start wailing all over again. I now have to wait until I get the all clear from Victor. That means she's asleep and I am permitted to move about my own home freely. It's 1:30 am and I'm stuck in our freezing bathroom with no heat because the only way for my baby to fall asleep with someone else is for me to be completely out of sight and hearing range. Interference I've been trying to put Kit to sleep for over an hour now. She's completely exhausted, her eyes red rimed and heavy. But something is keeping her awake. She has some kind of unfulfilled need that we haven't met that is not allowing her brain to shut down and let sleep take over. She kept nursing then popping up like her body had a spring in it. When I'd try to talk to her calmly or help her lay down she would throw her head and body back. Right into the back of the couch which is squared of...