In my best Michael Buffer impression, allow me to introduce you to today's blog post...
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls. It's now time for your main event of the
evening! This match-up has it all on the
line. Father versus daughter. Man versus baby. Rational speaking versus intense
screaming. There is truly only one way to
settle an issue like this; within the confines of the wooden crib! In the blue corner, hailing from Savannah,
MO, tipping the scales at 179 pounds. The master of the Dad joke: Jesse Holt! **pause for crowd response** In the pink corner, this diminutive combatant
from Kansas City registers only 11 pounds.
However, don't underestimate her due to her size. Her fight knows no bounds. The two-fisted screamer; the baby who's a
lady; the indomitable Ellie Holt! **pause for louder crowd response** Now, as both contestants step inside the
battleground, I ask you, Audience, are you ready? I said are you ready? Then for the six people reading this blog,
let's get ready to rumble!!!"
 |
| Apollo, wanna ring the bell? |
Ok, that might have been slightly excessive but it was
certainly fun to type and that's good enough for me. Really, if I'm being honest, I feel like
sleep training Ellie is the equivalent of a big-time title fight. That's right, I'm sleep-training Ellie right
now. The goal is honestly to get her to
sleep through her nights. According to
some of our research, the best way to do so is to ensure she gets quality naps
during the day. At least one every two
hours. In the morning, that's no issue
at all. Ellie has always been one to
enjoy her morning nap which in turn allows me to enjoy mine. Funny how that works. Our struggle has always been with her
afternoon nap. So with great
anticipation, we arrive at the fight of the century.
 |
| It awaits... |
While playing with Ellie this afternoon, I started to see
the warning signs that she was tired.
The red circles around her eyes, the yawns, and her eyes beginning to
close slightly. Knowing this, I decided
to take her to her crib instead of her swing.
My thoughts being if she was already getting tired, then I may be able
to get her to sleep there. After a quick
diaper change, I kissed her gently on the forehead, laid her in her crib, and
placed a pacifier in her mouth. I then
left the room and closed the door.
Relatively quickly, I heard a dramatic scream emanating from Ellie's
room. Cracking the door, I peeked inside
just to make sure she was "fine".
Everything was kosher so I closed the door and made note of the time on
my phone deciding to intervene in ten minutes if she was still crying.
Waiting ten minutes, I then re-entered her room, placing the
pacifier back into her gaping mouth and patting her head before leaving
again. This may seem a little
cold-hearted but I was actually following the clearly defined rules from our
book on sleep. I then took note of the
time so that I could wait fifteen minutes.
After eight minutes, Ellie's screaming doubled in intensity. Cracking the door, I peeked in to see that
Ellie had wiggled and squirmed her way from the middle of her crib all the way
to the head of it. In fact, her head was
actually touching the bars. Taking pity
on her, I moved her back to the foot of the crib, put her pacifier back in and
left. Ten minutes later, Ellie's screams
again rose in intensity. Sneaking to the
door, I cracked it open to find that Ellie had now gotten her leg stuck in the
bars on the crib. Rolling my eyes, I
stepped in and removed her leg from the crib, placing her pacifier back into
her mouth and left the room again.
At this point, Ellie's screams subsided from an impassioned
cry to more of a pitiful whimper. To me,
this was actually worse. I can handle
her screaming all day long. That's what
the earplugs are for. Her whimpering is
worse because it makes me feel more like I'm neglecting her. I had prepared myself for this though. Knowing that I must stand tall, I patiently
waited by the clock. Knowing that I was
winning the battle, I awaited my victory.
Finally at 2:46 pm, forty full minutes after we began, Ellie let out one
last cry and would fall fast asleep for the next forty-five minutes.
I had won. The battle
was mine. However, that was tempered
with the knowledge that the war will continue tomorrow afternoon. Same time, same place. I'm already scared. #DaddyWrite
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