A full weekend

Well, I took Charli to the pediatrician on Friday to discuss her sleep issues. He first did an exam to make sure she wasn't sick as that of course can hinder sleep. Fortunately she is fine. He reassured me that this is normal for her age and that he agrees it stems from all the changes that occured around the same time, starting daycare, getting sick etc. He doesn't feel it is an attachment issue of any kind. I didn't think it was either. We talked about her routine and the fact she's very bright and understands what you say to her. He said that since she was sleeping in her crib by herself prior to this, re-educating her should not be too much of a problem. He suggested using the Ferber method for this. It's a modification of the "cry it out" approach. You start by putting her to bed and if she's crying wait 5 minutes, go in soothe her then wait 10, go in and this time wait 20 and then wait 30. If after that time she hasn't settled down/gone to sleep, she can come back to bed with me, but then do it again the next night. After a couple of nights, she will understand that it's okay to be in her bed. He also said that she may be ready for a toddler bed. She's a tad younger than usual but because she likes to sleep on my bed and with pillows, he thinks this is something to consider. Oh, another thing we discussed was that she has had a few night terrors. He told me that they can be re-occurring and that many children who have them end up as sleep walkers. Great. Won't that be my luck???

I told him we had a busy weekend and he agreed, to wait to try this until it was a more "normal" week. I am hoping to give it a go starting Thursday night as I don't work on Fridays. I'll keep you posted.

Saturday was a big day. I dropped Charli off at mom and dad's around 8:30AM. I then proceeded on to get gas in my car and pick up my order at Sam's Club. Then off to Duluth to co-host a bridal shower for Katie Pillsbury. We held it at her mom's house in Duluth. Charli rode up later with my mom, dad and Jane. I guess she did quite well in the car, but of course only fell asleep 15 minutes from Holly's house. Katie ended up with a fantastic turnout - 30+ women and a few kiddos. I didn't get to participate in the games or see too much of the gift opening but from what I heard it was fun. I had one of Katie's friends and her cousin do the games as they would know what is the "in" thing now a days. That also freed me up to stay in the kitchen on food detail. I am really thankful that Jane was there as she was able to watch Charli for me - this was a true blessing. Being as she had no real nap, I was convinced she'd fall asleep on the way home. Boy was I wrong. She cried from just north of Hinckley to Rush City (about 45 minutes). After that, she was fine and didn't fall asleep until 5 minutes from home. And of course once I got her in the house she woke up. It took me over an hour to get her to sleep (9:20PM)

Thankfully, she slept in yesterday until 7:20 and was not as energetic as she normally is. I think the excitement of the day before was still tiring. She ran a low grade fever and took a 3 hour nap. Needless to say, I enjoyed this time, read the paper and caught up on some laundry. Last night was a good night as was this morning. Maybe we are turning the corner and getting her into her bed won't be too bad.

Catching up...

Well, since my last post, I've thought about getting some new pictures on here and updating everyone but my nights are not really mine any more. You see, since the weekend of March 6, Charli has not been sleeping in her bed. She insists on sleeping in my bed. Not my ideal situation. She has also suffered some night terrors which are an awful thing to witness. Even at the mention of going "night night" in her bed she gets upset and cries. She fights going to sleep even in my bed. The only night that was easy was Sunday night as she was truly physically exhausted from playing outside all day. She fell asleep instantly and for the most part slept through the night. (she stirs throughout the night and wants to touch me or for me to hold her) Needless, to say it's taking me 2 to 3 times longer to put her to bed than it did a month ago. And then by the time she is asleep, I am not able to relax knowing how she has been waking up crying, especially if I'm not right there. I then rush back downstairs take care of whatever little things I absolutley must do and then head back upstairs. I get ready for bed and watch TV in my room. The dim light of the TV and the volume on fairly low don't seem to bother her one bit. My projects, like changing out my winter sweaters to my spring ones are not getting done like I planned. I would have done them some night last week, but that didn't happen. Maybe this weekend. I finally decided to call the pediatrician today. I need some help. Right now, I am the only person she'll let put her to bed therefore I can't even get a sitter to go out and that does include my parents. Actually I need a good night sleep. The triage nurse agreed that this issue warrants a visit. She said it's also because she has special circumstances - adopted. We see the doctor Friday morning. I am hopeful he has some good advice and techniques to get Charli to bed easier and in her own room.

As for daycare, that is getting much better. They played "beauty shop" with the girls a couple of times and since then, Charli has let me put pigtails in her hair. Okay so they aren't braids, but that's what we're calling them for now. I've put a couple of recent pictures on here. You can see that Charli got some new rain boots. She loves them. She wore them over to Jama and Papa's house the weekend of the 21st. She thinks they are the coolest. I even took a picture of her wet footprints on the driveway. There are also a couple of her first attempt of putting them on by herself. As per usual with kids, they went on the wrong feet. And of course, a couple of her with her pigtails. She looks so darn grown up with them. Well, if all goes well, I will get some amount of a life back and can post more regularly, but no guarantees.

Six months

Six months ago to the day, I was up at 5:30AM to get ready to leave the hotel for my appointment at the US Embassy in Guatemala. This is our picture taken just before we left. It's hard to believe it's only been six months that Charli has "legally" been mine. Sometimes it feels like she's been home forever. We are also at the halfway point -- with adoptions, international in particular, they say that your child needs to be home with you as long as they were "in country" to be truly adjusted and used to their new life. Well, she came home just a couple weeks past her first birthday so we are now halfway 'home' too. We've come a long way. And she's doing amazingly well.

The tears at daycare and the restless nights will pass. If this is our obstacle of adjustment and attachment, so be it. Soon, it too will be just a distant memory much like the restless nights waiting to bring her home are now.

Funny kid

As is obvious by my last post, I didn't go out with "the girls" Friday night to celebrate Dan's birthday. I do think it was the best thing for both Charli and me. As I do believe we are on the mend and today was a better day as far as school goes. Well, sort of anyway. As we left home this morning she began asking for "papa and ois". I waited a little and said no, she was going to school. She started to cry. She wasn't hysterical or anything but you could tell she knew what I was saying. Once we got to school, she really did cry. But here's the funny part, she helped me take off her coat and then after I gave her a 'bye kiss, she reached for her teacher and went right to her. She kept crying and saying, "mama" but she was obviously comfortable in Christine's arms. I spoke with the owner, Connie as I was leaving and she re-assured me that Charli is doing fine. She anticipates it will take a couple more weeks the adjustment will be made. I figure she's seen it all in her 20+ years of daycare. So, by the end of March, life should be back to a sense of normal for us. Here's hoping....