An evolution in Sleeping

Now that EG is older we've enjoyed a sort of blossoming of our lives as adults.  She's old enough now where she understands who people are, willingly stays with Grandma and Grandpa and is much more flexible when it comes to bedtime.

I've mentioned before how wonderful EG is at sleeping, and though I don't want this to be either a bragging post, or a post that comes off as complaining about something most people would love to have in a heartbeat, it's been a difficult journey for us as parents to have such a good sleeper as a child.

When EG was first born we used to play the 'don't shake the baby' game to wake her up to eat.  Otherwise she'd snooze right through and the doctors were monitoring her weight pretty closely.

We called this her baby sunbathing pose- which worked very well when she had the billirubin blanket on.  This cradle was made by Working Dad's Grandpa for his daughter.  It's a wonderful family heirloom, and all the kids have slept it in.  EG loved to sleep in it for the first few months of her life...

When she started sleeping through the night it was wonderful, but she definitely started to commit herself to a bedtime, and any wavering away from that would create a tearful, cranky and anxious child.  Horrible problem, I know, but since EG was about 9 months old we've been unable to leave the house after 7pm and have consistently left events early to accommodate our little's early bedtime. When we were on our cruise in December one of us (okay, Working Dad) spent at least an hour and half in our cabin each day while she took her nap.  She napped beautifully in the pack-n-play, but it's still a pain when she wants to be in her own bed...

I know, I know, such a hard problem to have...

But this post isn't about the last few months. This post is about how now that EG is nearing 2 years old her flexibilty has increased to the point where we didn't leave a wedding until after 7:45pm.  Last night she went home to my parents house to sleep, transfered to the car for a drive, and then still slept through.

It's amazing to be able to feel like you can go out to events, have dinner after 5:30pm, and just generally be more active in life again. Of course, with great flexibility comes great responsibility...

There are definitely still days when at 6:45pm she's asking for 'night night' and bed.  And if we do too much for a few days we'll feel the brunt of that over stimulation for at least a night or two.  Then we end up with the same tired, cranky child who also doesn't listen very well.

Oh well, I'll enjoy the freedom while I have it before B2 arrives.  Once B2 is here, I think we'll be staying close to home.  In the meantime, anyone want to go out this weekend...?