IT HAS BEGUN...

Our little doll baby. The cuddly infant who snuggles so very sweetly during her last bottle of the night. The itty bitty baby that lets out a single burp, gives you a hug, and then reaches for her crib and falls asleep for 12 hours straight. The simplest, sweetest, easiest bedtime ritual ever....

Until our child turned into a maniacal, irrational, ferociously screaming, demented, raving holy terror.  HAH. yes, I just called a 14 month old irrational. I realize how irrational that is...

Evie has a textbook case of bedtime separation anxiety. She's perfectly fine if we are standing in the room with her. The minute we walk out and shut the door, the screams that emit from her room would have you think that the Boogey Monster himself was in her room, pulling out her toenails one by one.

We've kept up the bedtime ritual. Bath time. Pajamas. A book or two. Play with the puppies and say "night night" to almost everything in the house. We rock her, give her warm milk, soothe her, put her down in her crib. She gets her little dalmatian doggie/blanket that she loves to cuddle. She fusses a little. We soothe her and then walk out the door.  

And then it begins.... the screams, the tears, the anxiety. 

We aren't giving in. We practice the techniques the books/doctors/experienced parents tell us worked on their kids. Wait two minutes, then go in and check on her.  Soothe her, put her back down. Walk out. Wait four minutes, then check on her.  Wait eight minutes, and so on...

My mom's a liar, yall.
A holy nighttime terror? Moi? Certainly not!

Soothe her, put her back down, say night-night and walk out. Wait.... check... soothe...    ...   ....  .....  this goes on for at least an hour after her bedtime each night. By the time she falls asleep, it's usually because she's just tired of crying.

Oh, you think she's actually asleep for the night now? It only gets better. Somewhere between the hours of 2 and 4 AM she wakes up. And this process typically resumes ALL OVER AGAIN. 

And what's the result of that 2 AM tantrum? Apparently, Momma Peach and Dadda are now considered "co-sleepers" with Evie.  We never really planned on doing that.  We never were really for or against the co-sleeping technique.  We just never really considered doing it.

But if letting Evie sleep in our bed finally allows this family to actually get some sleep between the hours of 2 AM and 6 AM, then sign us up for some t-shirts and business cards that says "PROUD TO BE A CO-SLEEPER"....  because we just joined the club!

This is supposed to be a stage that she'll outgrow shortly. Shortly, I hope meaning within the next few months. If this stage last for years, the adoption agency is sounding better and better. (kidding! kind of!)

I can hear my mother laughing from here. C'est la vie.