So I think Monkey's sleeping habits have officially turned a corner in a good way. The revelation we finally had after 2 nights of insanity was that she was completely overtired all the time. Nothing big had changed except for the following: During winter break the kids stayed up a bit later due to family events, and they started waking up a bit earlier. After winter break, we started putting them back to bed earlier, but they were still waking up earlier too. So Miss Monkey had just been tired. So we started putting them to bed between 7 and 7:30 (as in lights out at this time) and she has been doing amazingly better. She cries out as we shut the door and cries out "Mama" a few times. But she doesn't get out of bed, and it stops after a few seconds. It's miraculous, the change. I'm loving it! So now she's back to going to bed between 7 and 7:30, waking up at 6:30, and napping for 2 hours in the afternoon.
Although this morning was a fabulous exception. She woke up at 4:30 in the morning, unable to find her pacifier. I gave it to her, and left their door open, knowing she'd freak out if she saw me close it. I went to shut their door right before 5, knowing the hub's alarm would go off and he'd be up and about getting ready. However, she wouldn't let me close it still. So I went into their room and laid down on the floor next to her bed. (We tried bringing her into our bed once when this happened and she didn't want to leave her bed.) So I shut the door and slept next to her bed. The bad thing was it was horribly uncomfortable. I couldn't sleep too long on my side without one arm going numb, and getting a kink in my side. Not to mention being horribly aware of how unsupported my spine was, and most likely nothing even close to straight. But I was still able to sleep. Moose woke up shortly before 6, but he stayed in bed as quiet as he could manage until 7, when I let him go out to the living room and watch a movie. But I stayed next to her bed sleeping on the floor. Me and Monkey didn't leave the bedroom until 8:20! That's the longest she's slept in months. I know it was mostly because I was there. I don't know how long it took her to fall asleep after I came in there. But it was definitely what she needed. She still took a nap from 1-3 and will certainly be down at her normal bedtime, after a few large yawns at dinner. I'm so glad to have things back to normal. It makes our evenings so much more relaxing and less stressful.
Oh, and we're mostly decided to take away her pacifier before baby #3 comes. Most likely at the end of February. So we'll have at least a month to get her acclimated before we have another one who will be taking a pacifier. But for now I'm not stressing it. I'm just glad she's sleeping regularly again without huge bouts of crying or screaming. (And having her missing pacifier wake her up at 4:30 doesn't help her paci cause any. I could practically take it away right now if that happens again. We'll see.)
So yay for progress anyway. So glad we finally figured out what the deal was. For tomorrow's agenda: Doctor's apointment! Week 30. 10 to go. How crazy!
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