This week started out wonderfully. Evelyn was still sleeping in her crib. She was entertaining herself for longer periods during the day and whining less. I thought maybe, just maybe, we could have some smooth sailing for a little while.
I've decided it's time to just give up hope. My child is too spirited, too stubborn, too rebellious, too strong-willed to allow for any dull moments in this house.
I suppose since the week began so well, Evelyn decided to reverse the harmony and end the week on a very high, screeching note.
Last night was night #2 in the toddler bed. Evelyn did really well sleeping in her bed during nap time yesterday, although it was likely due to the fact that she initially fell asleep in her car seat while I had to run a last-minute errand. Thankfully, moving my daughter from the car seat and into the bed went without any problems.
When it came time for bed, Evelyn readily got dressed in her pajamas and brushed her teeth (that should have been my first clue something was off). She flipped through one book on her own (she's typically read two books before bed), then practically asked me to turn out the lights and lay her down. I thought to myself, "It can't be this easy..." I laid her down in her bed, surrounded her with stuffed animals, covered her with a blanket, and left the room. I didn't hear so much as a peep from her.
Minutes later my husband got home from work (it was a late day). I mentioned I had laid Evelyn down only moments before, and that he would probably be okay to go in and say goodnight to her. He went in, rocked her for a few minutes, read a book to her, then laid her back down in her bed. Again, there was not so much as a peep from her.
My husband and I sat in the living room together, trying to figure out what we wanted to do for the rest of the evening. Twenty minutes later, we hear Evelyn's bedroom door creak open. Evelyn stood in the doorway (a gate blocked her from being able to leave her room) and for a few minutes happily babbled to herself. Then she got upset that no one was coming to check on her and she began to cry. This was about 8:00 p.m.
I spent the next hour leading Evie back to her bed probably a hundred times. The first time I took her back, I talked to her and made sure to tuck her in. After that, I led her back to her bed without a word, laid her down, covered her with her blanket, and left. She thought it was a funny game, so she kept doing it over and over and over.
By about 9:00 p.m. I was really tired of this game that obviously was not going to end. So, we set up the gate so Evelyn couldn't leave her room, and disappeared into our own bedroom to let her work things out on her own. An hour of blood curdling screaming later, Evelyn finally began settling down in her bed.
Any parent knows how stressful it is listening to your own child scream. Every minute seems to last for eternity. When Evelyn finally quieted down a little after 10:00 p.m. I settled into bed, but it took quite a while for my nerves to calm down enough to get to sleep. I think I finally fell into a deep, restful sleep at about 4:30 - 5:00 a.m. this morning. I had dozed off and on throughout the night, but kept waking up and spending long periods of time getting back to sleep. Of course, my daughter having gone to sleep late meant that she woke up earlier than usual. By 6:30 a.m. I was stumbling out of bed with Evelyn wide awake.
I don't really know what is in store today with both Evelyn and me being over-tired, but I don't have any hope that this day will end well, only that I can merely survive it.
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