Everyone reaches that moment in life where they find they
have outgrown something they love. When that time comes, it's up to that person
to decide whether they want to part ways with it or hold on for dear life. For
example, when I was younger, I slept with a stuffed Abu. To confirm your
suspicions, yes, I do mean the comic relief monkey from 'Aladdin'. However, the
day came for me that I had outgrown sleeping with a stuffed animal and instead
just found myself with my arm around a spare pillow. For me, there's absolutely
no issue with outgrowing things but for Ellie there might be. You see, it's a
problem because Ellie has now decided
that she has outgrown sleep.
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| You know, this is pretty similar to how Ellie eats... |
This morning, not long after Bethany left for the day, I
began the process of putting Ellie down for her morning nap. It used to be that
a quick story and a little rocking would do the trick but that is no longer the
case. Now, Ellie immediately associates the combination of the rocking chair
and a story with a nap and chooses to protest in the best way she can think of.
Unfortunately for both of us, the best way Ellie can think of is arch and
contort her body before violently slamming her head into my sternum over and
over again. It might be an understatement but by the end, both of us are very,
very sore.
On normal days, Ellie will eventually give in for the nap.
Today was not to be though. Repeated trips into her room for consolation would
not calm her. Nor would relocating her to other areas for said nap. I'm
honestly not certain if she's afraid of sleep or maybe just afraid of missing
out on something fun. Finally, after two hours of attempts, I found myself
tapping out and acknowledging defeat at the hands of my infant daughter. She
had bested me.
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| "Cash Me Ousside" has got nothing on Ellie... |
What Ellie didn't
know is that I had one more proverbial bullet left before I was out of options.
The car ride! I won movie tickets a couple of weeks earlier and had held off on
picking them up mostly because I hadn't had a great opportunity to do so. Now,
it seemed like the time was perfect to do so. Loading Ellie up in the car, we
headed to retrieve my prize. With about a half hour in the car ahead of us, I
was certain Ellie would fall asleep. After all, she can never withstand the
allure of a car ride.
15 minutes in, I glanced in the rearview mirror only to find
Ellie still wide awake. After 20 minutes, Ellie was still gazing out the window
watching scenery fly by. Finally, at the 25 minute mark, I gazed back to see
Ellie slumped over in her car seat fast asleep. Of course, that moment occurred
pretty much simultaneously with me pulling in the parking lot. I removed
Ellie's car seat from the car very carefully, taking great care to not wake my
precious cargo and actually made it inside the building without her moving an
inch.
As I boarded the elevator, I believed I would be home free.
As the doors slid closed and I hit the button, the elevator's chime rang
through the steel box we found ourselves in. Ellie immediately awoke with a
start, looking around as if to say, "Where am I?". Of course, I could
do nothing other than roll my eyes and sigh at my luck.
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| An accurate depiction of the look on my daughter's face... |
All I can do is hope that Ellie will eventually decide that
she hasn't outgrown sleep. Similar to how I decided I hadn't outgrown Abu when
I was suffering from mono. Don't judge me; I was sick, pathetic, and mopey. Of
course, he did go back in the trunk once I was healthy again. Where I'm pretty
sure he still remains today. Maybe my logic's not foolproof. #DaddyWrite
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| I'm sorry that I put you back in the trunk, Abu. |
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