You win some you lose some.

The Win.

For the past 2 nights Jessica has averaged 6 hours a night in her cot bed! It took an hour to get her to fall asleep Saturday night but without any crying she finally conked out and stayed in her 3 walled crib for 6 and half hours!! She got more sleep than I did (I was constantly waking up to check on her and make sure she hadn't wandered off into the house somewhere.) When she woke up at 4am to nurse I just collected her brought her back to our bed. Sunday night we tried again. Out of nowhere, Jessica decided that she wanted an early evening nap around 6pm, which means when she woke up around 7:30 she was not interested in going back to bed until 10:30. It took a lot of coaxing but eventually we got her down in the cot bed again. This time I didn't bring her back with me until 5am. (Looks like we might be on to a winner here!!) It was so nice being able to stretch out and move around without fear of waking the baby!


The Lose.

Jessica is NOT doing well with Stroller Strides. When we started it was a bit iffy, but after a few classes she finally came around. She'd get fussy near the end of class sometimes and require lots to entertain her, but by March she was doing brilliantly. She'd happily sit through an entire class, waving at passerbys and grinning at the other moms. Since the week we took off and went to Kentucky she has not been thrilled with sitting in the stroller during class. She'd start fine and then get angry halfway through for no apparent reason. As May went on it has gotten progressively worse. Last Friday, a friend of mine switched strollers with me during class so I could see what it was like exercising with a stroller built for purpose. I was excited. Jessica was not. I thought perhaps a change of immediate scenery would have helped. I thought wrong. She was just as angry as before, if not more so.

This morning I was hesitant, should I go to class? My hip hurts, my knee hurts, and the stupid toe, that I think is causing all the other pain, hurts. I decided I would try. I've put my membership on hold from the end of the month so I only have a few more classes left anyway. I might as well tough it out - get my money's worth! ;) Jessica disagreed. She happily sat in the stroller on the walk from the apartment over to class, but when it came time for class to start? Not a chance. She was livid. Absolute refusal to sit in the stroller. She was annoyed with me and demanded that Megan hold her through warm-ups. *sigh* The class headed off on their warm-up walk and I stayed behind with Jessie. I tried to console her, but it was fruitless. She was not going back into the stroller. Eventually I gave up and headed over to the covered play area on the commons and let her run around. She met a little boy named Riley and they played together for at least half an hour. They were smitten and Jessica wanted nothing more than to go home with the family. (I think it had a lot to do with his mom and aunt; two lovely, petite, dark haired very pretty women.)

Headed home again... sure she'll sit in the stroller now. Until a man in the elevator scared her that is. Shrieking tears down the hallway back to the apartment. Straight to bed. (Silver lining?-  she's in the cot bed!)

Seriously?

Jessica can now circumvent all our current baby corralling measures which means by the time I got to her, she'd already put a few teeth marks into her Daddy's xbox controller. (I don't fancy telling him... does someone else want to tell him for me?)

A few minutes later I decide it's time for an early lunch. The cat is twirling around my feet and I manage to drop a plate of buffalo chicken perilously close to her head. It shatters of course, leaving me with a lovely mixture of shredded buffalo chicken and porcelain to clean.

After I finally get lunch sorted I set it on the sofa (first mistake.) I head back to the kitchen to get a drink (second mistake.) Jessica has my fork and is scooping buffalo chicken into her mouth. Her first reaction is one of smug pride, then the hot sauce hits. Not so happy now. I quickly pour her a cup of milk and all is better. She must have a very bad short term memory though because she tries again a few minutes later. I set her milk up on the end table. Somehow I manage to knock the milk over with my new plate. Argh. Milk on the carpet. Clean that up. Turn around twice and I've knocked my plate over again. Buffalo chicken down! (on the carpet this time for good measure) I clean that up. Finish lunch, remove dishes. Turn around to find my baby about to put the carpet cleaner bottle spout into her mouth! *slow motion NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*  I save the baby. Replace carpet cleaner bottle with diluted apple juice. She seems happy.                              

I don't feel comfortable in my skin today and I keep meeting with painfully physical reminders. Can I just go back to bed please?