We all crave security in life. I don't mean security in terms of our own
private police force. Although, that
would be pretty cool. Just imagine
walking anywhere surrounded by a throng of men dutifully sworn to protect you
at all costs. That's something that most
of us won't experience unless we become President. Or maybe Taylor Swift. No, I'm talking more about that feeling of
security that comes from being safe, sound, and secure. Everyone knows that feeling of paranoia/nervousness
that you get when you're in an uncomfortable environment. And when that occurs, there's often very few
things that can calm you and convince you that everything is going to be copacetic.
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| So this will be Taylor's campaign slogan in 2028? |
Ellie has began to show some signs of associating safety (dance?)
with certain places. For example, today with
Ellie was kind of a rough day (as has been par for the course lately). She's beginning to mature in her sleeping
methods. At the four month mark, babies
transition from sleeping anywhere, anytime, anyplace to sleeping as an adult
would. The problem with that is that she
can be easily startled and awoken prior to reaching her deepest sleep. Her sleep patterns have become totally
erratic to say the least and it's resulting in her being more upset than
normal. Of course, that will happen when
you're waking up from what should be a three hour nap less than an hour into
it.
Whenever Ellie lets out her first cry of being awake, a
countdown begins. Not unlike a shot
clock in basketball, I have 24 to 30 seconds to hightail it to wherever she's
sleeping and delicately shove a pacifier through her pursed lips. Easier said than done especially when her
head is rapidly turning from side-to-side.
In case you're wondering, Ellie will wake up if you accidentally shove a
pacifier in her eye while attempting to hit her mouth. Anyway, if Ellie cries for too long unaided,
she will be completely awake with no chance of falling back asleep
immediately. This afternoon was one of
those instances where she fussed for too long before I reached her and thus
there was no putting her back to sleep.
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| Put up the ball; put it up now!!! |
Unfortunately for me, not only would Ellie not resume sleep,
she would not resume normal infant activities.
Meaning, she basically would do nothing but scream. On and off for an hour, anything I did was
met with Ellie's screams. Feeding,
changing, swaddling, cuddling. All were
failures. I even tried tummy time in my
desperation. Finally all out of ideas, I
decided to try placing her in her car seat.
To my surprise, she immediately ceased all noise and began smiling at
me. I just decided to roll with it,
buckle her in, and hit the road for a little adventure. So to Smithville, we would go. The library and the discount store we would
see.
While I'm glad Ellie associates her car seat with being a
safe zone, I would prefer to find something else sooner rather than later. As Ellie gets bigger, it would be nice for
her to have either a stuffed animal or a blanket that she can cling to for
security from the monster under the bed or whatever kids are afraid of. I mean, can you mentally envision my
daughter, fast asleep in her bed, clutching her car seat closely as she drifts
off to Dreamland? No, I can't
either. I guess I could always try my
childhood security blanket, "Bee-Bo".
I even know what box it's in at my parents' house. Surely it's not so brittle that it would fall
apart at her first touch. Right? #DaddyWrite.
If I was Ellie, I'd probably be frightened by this...
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