Sleeping update, part 150

We like to think that we're pretty laid back parents.  I really do think we are: we don't sweat the small stuff and our frustration level with Des tends to be pretty minimal lately.  For example, the other day, he was sucking on a teething biscuit and I saw him reach his hand down to Pirate, Pirate would like the biscuit and Des's hand a few times, and then Des would put it back in his mouth.  The first time I caught him doing this, I looked at him and sternly said "NO!" (we're trying to get him used to the fact that there are things that he can and cannot do now that he's a lot more mobile).  He looked at me and slowly put the biscuit back in his mouth.  I don't think he knew what I was being so stern about.  Then, just as slowly, without taking his eyes off of me, he lowered his hand and once Pirate started licking his hand and the biscuit, he broke out into a big, toothless grin.  I melted and let him let Pirate lick his biscuit.  See?  No stress, no worries, even though what he was doing was pathogen filled and gross.

Anyway, now that Des has found out that he could move around a lot more (holy heck can this kid move), he constantly wants to be moving or standing.  He never wants to sit and much less lie down (which makes changing his diaper a huge headache).  So, this newfound energy means that Des wants to party, party, party late into the night.  We usually try to get him ready for bed at 8 so that he could be sleeping by 8:30pm.  However, the last few weeks, the routine has been going as follows: it'll take 30 or 40 minutes to get him to fall asleep, he'll sleep for like 20 minutes, wakes up for another hour (where we let him hang out with us), and then we take another 30 minutes to put him back to sleep, putting his final bed time at around 10.  Yes, it is too late for a baby to go to sleep, but fighting him tooth and nail and getting so frustrated doing it is worse than a 10pm bedtime.  We never let him CIO (cry it out) and believe that he'll fall asleep when he's good and ready.  Although we may be effing ourselves in the long run, right now, not fighting him every night and gently lulling him to sleep fits the best with our lives and slightly lackadaisical parenting philosophy. 

It's interesting that babies' sleeping habits get disrupted because they just learned something new.  I remember being 5 or 6 and being with my entire family in Disney World.  It was way past my bedtime and it seemed that the longer I spent awake, rehashing every single Mickey and Minnie and Princess I took a picture with, I would start getting more and more loopy.  Hyperly loopy.  And that's exactly how Desmond gets.  He starts laughing really weirdly, like the kind of laugh that could turn into a cry any second.  That's when I know that he's ready to go to bed.  At that point, I know to expect some resistance, but he generally falls asleep quickly.  We put on a CD of lullabies sung by children that my mom gave us and I walk around the bedroom holding him tightly against me, one arm under his head and one arm in between his legs, supporting his bum and lower back.  He loves the motion that walking produces and he loves being close to me, so he generally falls asleep within 10 or 15 minutes that way.  Billy is able to just lie down with him and Des falls asleep with Bill that way.  As for me, I can't have Desmond touching me when I sleep.  I can't have anybody touching me when I sleep.  I like to have my own space.  So, when Desmond is at his most fussy during the night (6am!!!) I pick him up, hand him to Billy, and the two fall asleep with Des in the crook of Bill's arm.  Craziness.

Oh!  and last night was the first night EVER that Des slept for more than 5 hours (his previous top score).  It was awesome.  So, so, so awesome.  So see?!?!  8.5 months later, and I finally got a decent night's sleep.