Thursday, August 4, 2011

Hunger Strike, RIF

Hunger Strike
When we talk to other Mums and Dads we know, we've all come to realize and accept that kids are generally either a good sleeper or a good eater......its the rare and lucky parent (in our circle anyway) whose kid is both a good eater and sleeper.

Calin, our neighbor, is asleep by 7:15 EVERY NIGHT! Her Mum and Dad have nights all to themselves! But, Calin won't eat....she is the most finicky little peanut I've ever met.

Caiti is THE BEST SLEEPER IN THE WORLD!!!! When we first started hanging out with the Hayes Family, and I did not know them as well as I do know, I totally wanted to punch Lori in the face when she said they often times have to wake Caiti up in the morning (at 9!) and that she was in bed no later than 8 and that she naps like a champ for 2-3 hours...seriously, I wanted to punch her in the head. But now that I have come to know and love the Hayes Family, I'll let it go...but I'm still jealous

Ben is a great eater, so so sleeper
Chase is a good sleeper, so so eater
Catherine, better eater than sleeper
See the trend?

Lucy has always been a good eater - she comes by it rightly mind you
But she's never been a good sleeper

On a good day, we might get Lucy to sleep in until 6....but usually, by 5:30, she is awake. Yes, that's right, even on the weekend....even on days off....even when she went to bed late the night before.....even if she was awake three times during the night.......Lucy is almost always awake at 5am...sometimes 5:30, but usually 5.

We took to bringing her in bed with us trying to get her to snuggle and doze for another 30 minutes or so.......rarely worked though Sean and I could always sneak in a few extra minutes....and on the weekends we resort to giving jher the iPad and an episode (or 2) of Scooby Doo or Yo Gabba Gabba

But the past few mornings, something strange has been happening....

LUCY HAS BEEN SLEEPING UNTIL WE WAKE HER UP AT 6:15

We've had to wake her up.....we have had to wake up Lucy.....Lucy was still asleep after we were awake....and showered....and dressed....Lucy has slept beyond 5am, past 5:30am......She's not sick, and I'm pretty sure I'm bringing the right kid home from Day Care each day......we've had to wake her up....

We don't know how to take showers, brush our teeth or get dressed without Lucy running from room to room or rolling around on the ground with her animals....she has totally thrown our routine off....and we've been late the past three morning because of it! Not because she's been "sleeping in" but because our routine is out of whack...our timing is off...our senses are in shock....

I've probably just jinxed it but its like a Christmas Miracle and had to be shared.......

Did I mention Lucy is on a hunger strike?

Reading is Fundamental
On Saturday, Lucy and I spent some time at the used bookstore not far from the house and came home with 17 new (used) books.....yes, 1*7, 17, seventeen, diecisiete, dix-sept, семнадцать, dezessete, books.
 And no, I have not purged any of her old ones out. In our world, you can never ever have too many books (or stuffed animals).

And here's the thing, Lucy, much like with her animals, is pretty fair in her love and admiration for all her books.

We go through phases where we read the same stack of book every night before bed
Right now, its Best Friends, Finding Nemo, Pooh and Eeyore, Pooh and Piglet, and Blues Clues (the last 4 being new purchases Saturday, Best Friends being a book she got at Christmas of 2009)

And much like with her animals, we leave the house with no fewer than 3 books and I usually have a book or two stashed in my bag and Sean always has a pile of books in his car.

I love that she loves book.
I love even more that she can identify with and identify the books (if that makes any sense)
I love that she gets excited in all the right places, gets sad, gets "scared, " and claps when the story ends
I love how she remembers the characters and when they turn up in other books (like Beatrix Potter did with her characters) Lucy identifies them (Mama! That Peter Rabbit! He in the garden again?)
I love how when we're trying to teach her something or get her to do something, she connects it with a story 
I love it that when one book ends, she shouts How about another one?!?!?

I can't wait to introduce her to EB White, Shel Silverstein's poems (she loves The Giving Tree), Laura Ingalls Wilder, Nancy Drew, Junie B Jones, Charlie and Willie Wonka, James and the Giant Peach, The Magic Tree House, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Anastasia Krupnik, Ramona Quimby, Ralph the Mouse.....I could go on and on and on.....

I already have a list of all the books and characters I want her to meet - and I can only hope she loves them as dearly as I did

And I look forward to all the new characters and authors we'll meet together.....

Maria, the Mum

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