I like to move it, move it...

It's summer! It's raining! I'm unemployed! But, believe it or not, this has so far been the best summer of our lives! Have you ever had one of those moments when you realize you only intended to go down a road for a little while, but suddenly more time had passed and you weren't quite sure how to get back on track? We had one of those moments this year; this particular moment led to some pretty frantic get-out-of-here-immediately planning, and that very planning happily led us to this very moment.

Moving with a toddler (yes, she's a toddler now!). Whew. Well, once you get passed the twenty-hour drive, it's really not so bad. Here is the job-aid for moving a routine-oriented, my-way-or-the-highway, get-me-out-of-this-carseat, toddler:

1. Pack the bed. Neila's floor bed is the best thing that ever happened to our nighttime parenting; I can't imagine a single night without it which is why it comes with us everywhere we go. I don't think of the word "overnight" without thinking of the question "Will her bed fit there?". We turned our trip into a two-day event with an overnight campout in an Oregon campground (that happened to be flooded - good times). Yes, our daughter sleeps on a mattress when we camp, I'm not ashamed to admit it... okay, I'm a little ashamed... but since we've been in our new apartment, she has slept soundly without hiccup thanks to the consistency of her bed.

2. Two-boxes: one toys, one books. You know the old standbys that she can listen to and play with over and over and over (and over) again. They'll be reliable, comforting, and reassuring when nothing else looks familiar. Then when you unpack the rest of the goods, it'll be like Christmas!

3. Be calm, enjoy the ride... it's gonna suck. When we arrived in our new home everything went wrong: the apartment was not cleaned or move-in ready from the old tenants, the moving company we hired doubled their estimate and the ETA on our stuff, and we were completely broke and unemployed. What I wanted to do most in the world is sit down, cry, and then punch somebody. But when you have a toddler looking to you for reassurance and guidance, you have to be reassuring and guiding. Force yourself to roll with the punches (even if you don't get to throw any). Give it up to the moving gods and let go of the fact that you can't control any of those things - what's done is done. You can complain to each other and freak out after she goes to sleep. During those waking hours though, we're all smiles, playing at the park, walking through neighborhoods, and spending hours climbing up and down stairs -- life is good and all is right with the world.

First impressions of Seattle: beautiful, friendly, exciting! Every morning I've had I've thought to myself "I can't believe we live here!" it's that gorgeous. Yes, it has rained twice and it's summer, but without the rain, it wouldn't be so pretty. I'll remind myself of that in the winter when it rains every day (and the fall and the spring). Until then we have three months to soak in the summer (even if it does rain a little) and explore our new community.

No-Cry Sleep Solution

I've been so happy with our floor bed, it's crazy. I really am amazed at how well it's been working. Update: yes, she has rolled off of it several times... about four to be exact. Floor bed enthusiasts will tell you "like a lizard sleeping on a leaf, your infant will become aware of her boundaries and subconsciously remain within the edges of her mattress"... hmmmm... not quite. She rolls right off and you can hear a little giggle, a little squirm, and around five minutes later some huffing and puffing in a sort of where-the-heck-are-you-mom kind of way. The benefit of selecting a thin foam mattress was that she wouldn't hurt herself if she rolled off, so, no worries.

Recently our midwife sent a newsletter out to all of her families with some great info from Elizabeth Pantley (author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution). I enjoyed the newsletter and thought I might like her books. I decided to check out her website and that's when I learned that if you mention her books or her website on your blog you could win the collection of her books (she has five or six No-Cry Solutions for all of your crying needs). So instantly, I thought hey I'm not a fan of crying, I'd like those books! So I looked over her website and I have to say... not a big fan. It feels like one big advertisement for her books. A sort of appetizer of information. There were a few things I liked:

The PDFs to download. Not really useful for everyday, but they seem like useful tools to help visual people think out their napping woes.

The Booklet. Free, bite-sized information all in one friendly little (16-page) booklet. I would have liked to have seen this when Neila was first born, although there is some good stuff on potty training (or potty learning as our Montessori friends may say) and behavior issues for toddlers. Also, as a classroom teacher, I LOVE the Quiet Bunny technique she mentions on page 12. I will definitely be teaching my students this one!

Overall, I don't think I'll be entering the contest as I'm not giving her site rave reviews. I did, however, discover the Quiet Bunny which is enough of a prize for me!

The Great Sleep Experiment

When we decided three months was an appropriate time to stop co-sleeping with our little Neila, we made the decision to put her to sleep in the pack-n-play in our room. That month was beautiful! She got sleepy, we swaddled her, laid her down, read a book, closed the door and she slept. What are all these parents talking about? Sleeping is easy! When month number four came around, we started seeing little protests here and there, but by the middle of that month, it seemed the only way to get her down without a fight was to nurse her to sleep in our bed and then move her to her pack-n-play when we wanted to sleep. Okay, I guess I could deal with that, but occasionally she would wake up mid-transfer and I'd have to start over. Putting her straight into the pack-n-play wasn't working because it seemed that as soon as there was a divider between us (like the side of the crib), she would cry. I tried letting her cry (with me there, patting and shushing like no tomorrow), but it was not only torture for me, she was so clingy for the rest of the day that I knew that was not good for 'us'. The final straw was her night feeding. This little feeding would come every day around 3am. She would wake up and in my sleepy-daze I would bring her to our bed to feed her and we would both fall asleep there. But this co-sleeping was not the wonderful, snugly, newborn kind of co-sleeping of the early days. Around 4am I would be attacked by four flailing limbs dropping on me like bombs and sand-paper nails scratching my eyelids and lips completely off. I finally wised-up and started pushing our attack baby over to daddy's side so he could feel the wrath.

Enter: the floor bed.
One day I casually said to Jordan, "I wish I could lay down with her in her crib to sleep, then we wouldn't have to move her or keep her in our bed while we try to sleep... like if she had her own bed already". Thus, the research into the floor bed had begun! I started Google-ing all kinds of questions "age to start a toddler bed", "baby in toddler bed", "baby sleeping in own bed", etc. One time I stumbled on a Montessori blog with a mother talking about what a blessing it was when she transferred her four-month-old away from co-sleeping and into his floor bed. My searching became more refined as I delved into the Montessori baby theories. I learned that many Montessori parents put their babies to sleep on a mattress on the floor. One mother said, "just think of it as a crib the size of your room". Really, it seemed to make sense. I know what you're thinking -- we are far from the perfect Montessori parents. In fact, I don't always agree with everything Montessori, but some stuff I like. Well... to be honest, I will like anything that already agrees with my ideas. So I'll cherry pick my parenting style as needed.

Granted, she's not crawling yet. I know we will have a whole host of new issues to work out when that day arrives (baby proofing, for one). But for now, we thought we'd give it a go. After all, we share a room with her, how much trouble could she get into while we sleep? (famous last words, perhaps?)

Day One:
After a quick trip to IKEA (what isn't a quick trip these days?) we came home with a twin foam mattress, one fitted sheet, and one of those super cute giant leaves to hang over the bed (in an effort to make it look like the bed is supposed to be on the floor - not sure if it's working, but it does look cute!). After we first put it all together (some room rearrangement was necessary) we all laid under the leaf and read some books together and tried to make sure she would feel comfortable there by herself when bedtime came. She seemed happy so we went into bedtime confident. The good news: she fell asleep easily. The great news: she stayed asleep beautifully! She still woke up for her night feeding, as usual, but I came to her and left her there to sleep while I went back to my cozy bed (assault-free). And when she woke up for good, she stayed quite content under her leaf oasis and babbled happily for an hour! Ahhh :) Happy mama.