I was recently talking to a friend that was about to celebrate a birthday and he stated that he feels exactly the way he did when he was 20 years old, but he just has a lot more to do now! Our days are consumed with work, children, grocery shopping, cooking,cleaning house, church, working out, paying bills..... and on and on. Seldom do we get the opportunity to look at our watch and say NOW is a good time for a nap! Or how about... I am going to take a warm lavender scented bubble bath, sit down and read a book, the sound of waves crashing outside your window (CD unfortunately) and then slowly drift off to sleep, knowing that you have the opportunity to get a FULL 12 HOURS OF SLEEP!!! Can you imagine?
For the life of a 9 month old these are exactly the opportunities that exist for them. Ella has not only passed on these opportunities, she has defiantly made her stance to become a sleepless child, known to anyone within screaming distance. Actually, if she could walk and hold a little picket sign she would be out in front of a mattress store right now!
We have read the books, talked with experts, and listened to advice from countless friends who have told us stories of their night time bliss, as their newborns seemingly sleep for days at a time (to this point I have resisted the urge to set off massive amounts of obnoxiously loud fireworks in their front yards at 2:30am). Taking all this advice into consideration and application, I have learned that Kate and I might be better off trying to train a raccoon to drive a fork truck then convince Ella to sleep!
Growing up, your parents teach that everyone has a gift, or in some cases multiple gifts, to be discovered. Some of us are lucky to find these gifts early in life while others seem to wait a lifetime to discover their hidden talents. These gifts/talents come in many forms - juggling chainsaws, playing piano with your feet or convincing a sleep defiant 9 month old to enter a temporary comatose state of mind. I know what you are thinking..... one of the above is a rather unique talent, but I have witnessed my dad (Sam) perform this very talent on many occasions. He first started juggling chainsaws when I was 6 years old......... just joking.
Unfortunately, there are 375 miles that separate my father and Ella and he has his own life to live and is therefor unable to perform the task of becoming Ella's sleep nanny (we have already asked). So in the meantime we will strategize on possible solutions to convince Ella sleep is a good thing and cherish the napping moments she gets with her Grandpa (The Sleep Monster).
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