The cling-monster

This has officially become my nickname for L over the past several weeks.  She feels the need to be touching me at all times.  And my goodness, the second I put her down (as in, not carry her on my hip), she lets me know that that, is simply not acceptable.

Anybody go through this?  At first I figured it had something to do with teething.  And while she still does have some teeth coming in, I thought I would check in with some others just to make sure I might not be missing something.

I am left wondering, is it the teeth, something more serious, or do I need to suck it up and let her cry a bit because she is simply spoiled?  (I do, in fact, let her cry sometimes because this mama must get laundry/dishes/dinner done.  And every time, I feel my anxiety rise as she screams more and more, all while hanging onto my leg.)

For now, the cling monster is still present.

Priorities

First, hi!  It has been 2.5 weeks since I last updated.  I feel like I have been neglecting so much in my life.  I have doctors appointments for myself that I need to arrange, calls to make, blog and caringbridge site to update, exercise to make time for.

The other day I was trying to get some stuff done online.  I put Luca on the floor with some toys and quickly turned to my computer.  I heard a loud bang and knew immediately she had slipped on the hardwood floors and hit her head (she was crawling - not standing when it happened).  My first response was to get to her and pick her up...I knew she was fine but obviously wanted to comfort her.  Then, I was mad.  Mad that she couldn't sit still with toys for less than two minutes while I printed a form I needed to fill out for one of her medical appointments.

Then, I felt immediate remorse for being mad.  Mad at her for what?  Being a baby?  Doing exactly what she should be doing at her age?  I was taken aback at the anger.  And knew immediately I was taking it out on the wrong person.

Really, I cannot take it out on anyone.  This is our life.  It is crazy and busy and not always the most organized.

I am trying to learn to accept that with an active little girl in the house, who naps very little, things have to go to the backburner.  There will never be enough time in the day to get done what I need to.  I actually think back to pre-Luca days and laugh.  I laugh because I used to think life, at times, was super busy.  How my days now mock those days!  And I also laugh because I am so busy these days, but look back at the end of each day and think, "what the hell did I even accomplish today?"  I used to be able to write a list of to-do's for a busy day, and tackle most of them.  Now, I have a never ending list of to-do's and I get done less each day than the items I add each day.  I say I am trying this acceptance thing because truly, it is tough for me to put things aside.  I do not feel comfortable procrastinating or having a long to-do list.  But I need to learn to accept it because this is the way things are going to be for awhile.

While I feel stressed out by having this long list hanging over my head, I remind myself how blessed I am to have this growing little girl keeping me on my feet, distracting me.  She is my reminder as to what is important in life.  These other things can wait.  I do not want to miss any moment with this precious girl.

(I wrote today's post while wrestling Luca in my arm.  As I finish this sentence, she is busy occupying herself with slobbering all over her foot.)

And to leave you with a photo.  Taken by my sister over the weekend.  We asked her to take some family pictures of us so I can send a holiday card this year...and Luca, she refused to smile for most of the photos, including this one.

Sleep

The day before Luca's 1st birthday, I took her for a check-up with her regular pediatrician.  We love, love, love her pediatrician.  I wish we had more check-ups with him but right now she is seen so often by her specialists, and cannot receive vaccines, that we have no reason to go to him more often.

Anyways, her pediatrician has such an amazing way with first time parents.  He builds up your confidence and takes plenty of time with you.  He is patient and always says, "it is such a pleasure being your doctor and remember that I am always here."  I always come away with a big smile.

I asked a few questions of him.  While her health questions are being addressed regularly by her specialist, normal baby questions had been hanging over my head.

The big thing at the time was sleep.  Luca has for the most part been a great sleeper despite all the interruptions she gets.  So my question was: what does a 1-year-old sleep schedule normally look like.

He said that a non-medically complicated child, without hospital visits and such, tends to nap a couple times during the day (and that those naptimes vary, as well as how long each nap is).  And at night, most kids are asleep by 8 and go until about 6am.  But he said, almost all 1-year-olds are waking at least once per night for various reasons.

I was so relieved to hear this answer.  Luca goes down by 8, and wakes anywhere from 6:30-7:30am for the day.  (Sidenote - awhile ago she was going down slightly after 8 and was waking a ton and impossible to get to go down, but then we moved up the bedtime routine to start at 7 and she must be in her crib before 8, and voila, those issues went bye-bye.  I think her window is between 7 and 8 and if we miss it, we all pay for it that night and the following day.)

She takes two naps - one at 10:30 or 11am, and the second is at 3:30 or 4.  Each of those naps are about 1 hour in length.  And she does wake sometimes at night.  Some night she sleeps straight through.  Other nights she whines and needs readjustment or new diapers, etc.  Once she goes down, we are in and out of her room at least 4 times through the night.  We go in at 10 to give a med and stop her feeds, 11 to give more meds and restart her feeds (and do a diaper change), 3am for new food into the feeding bag and a diaper change, and 6am to turn off her feeds for an hour and possibly another diaper change.  (I realize she has a LOT of diaper changes.  But she is fed continuously which means she pees and poops continuously.  If we could get her on a feeding schedule instead of her being fed for 22 hours per day, I think we would have her on a better diaper changing schedule.)  But probably 90% of those visits into her room, and even the diaper changes, she sleeps through it all!  I always giggle when I am wiping her tush in the dark, lifting her legs, and she is fast asleep!

So that's her sleeping regimen at 1-year of age.  What is your baby's sleep schedule like?  Do you wish your baby would sleep more or less?

I consider ourselves blessed that she sleeps so well! (Or maybe everyone else's kids sleep better, and I am just naive!)