Monday, September 20, 2010

Once again the carrier saves the day

Well tonight was awful. No other way to describe it. Awful.

Let me start off by mentioning that Avalyn has a pretty good routine going that she sticks to quite well. Usually she and I wake up around 8:30-9:00 AM after Matt sends Keith off to school. She gets a diaper change, washed up and after that she hangs out in her crib where she bats at her mobile while I wash up. When her mobile turns off I bring her out to the living room where she plays on her activity mat for about an hour. During that time I do my homework, which works out perfectly because I read my books to her and both our brains get stimulated. Wonderful! When she's tired of her mat she eats and then I put her in her swing to watch Baby Einstein movies or Your Baby Can Read. After about twenty minutes she falls asleep for her first nap. This is when I finish my homework or clean the house. When she wakes up I change her, see if she needs to eat and then we go on a walk. Around three she usually naps again until around five. Then Matt plays with her while I make dinner, or I play with her until Matt makes dinner.

This is where things went awry. Tonight Matt was playing with her but she was getting fussy with him because he was dividing his attention by watching TV and she knows when she isn't getting 100%. So, while water was boiling and things were simmering I went out to the living room to help out. I got on my knees and tried to shift her from laying on her back to laying on her tummy to play. Now keep in mind, while I'm rolling her she's only an inch off the mat at most. Well she kicked her little head forward and bopped her nose on the floor.

I quickly hoisted her into my arms to see if she was all right. As soon as she sees my face she gives me the lip and bursts into tears. I felt terrible about her face plant and I tell her I'm sorry and carry her around the house for a bit and she calmed down after about five minutes. She was still sniffling though, the way people do after they've cried. You know where you can't really breathe without your breath hitching in your throat. So I showed her the kitchen and the dinning room and so forth, just walking through the house naming things until she let out a little "I feel better" sigh.

Since she felt better, I felt better. I noticed then, that she had a wet diaper so I went to change her. While I was doing that she was cooing and gurgling and talking to me like usual. She even grabbed my sleeve (like she always does) to pull my hand to her face. I went with it like usual, but her little hands must have been slippery from her tears because her fist slipped off my sleeve and she popped herself in the nose. All hell broke loose after that. She was completely inconsolable for an hour and a half.

I tried everything: Shushing her, walking with her, walking and rocking her, singing to her, feeding her, burping her and the list goes on... She never gets this way, even after her shots she was all right. I had Matt check her fingers and toes and give her a once over to see if she was okay and she was. So, I stripped her jammies off her and tied her carrier around my waist and secured her into it, hoping skin to skin contact would help (not to mention that carrier puts her to sleep every time I use it). After about two minutes her sobs start to subside a bit and she starts to chew on my cami like she's hungry. So, I feed her while I'm walking her around in the carrier... ten minutes later she's sleeping.

That carrier is a Godsend! I love it! I don't want to use it all of the time but when something works it works! She only slept for about twenty minutes but it must have been enough because she woke up with a smile on her face.

I don't know why punching herself in the nose set her off like that. Maybe she thought I did it and it scared her. :( I'm just glad today is almost over and we can start fresh tomorrow.

The good news: Avalyn is sleeping in her cradle for the second night in a row. Without having to move the co-sleeper from the bed into the cradle. The co-sleeper is folded up on the floor. Imagine that. I'm so proud of her!

Not a picture from today, but she loves the carrier!




Best carrier ever!

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