Sleep is for babies

Henry has decided that sleep, and particularly napping, is for babies. Trouble is, he seems to have forgotten that he's a baby. The past few weeks, getting Henry down for a nap has been a particular challenge. And his sleeping through the night has been spotty. What happened to our super sleeper?

The answer may be both literal and figurative--he woke up. Henry has in many ways awoken to the world around him. He's always been curious and aware, but this cognizance of all that surrounds him has grown by leaps and bounds lately. Henry not only wants to check everything out visually, he also wants to touch it and taste it (everything goes in his mouth). Right NOW. Not after a nap.

I love the fact that he's so interested in his world, but the fact is, a non-napping baby is like a silently ticking time bomb. It's only a matter of time before that clock runs out and all hell breaks loose. Sound extreme? Yes, but if you've ever been around an overtired baby, you know what I mean. Prior to having Henry, I would have thought that the more tired a baby is, the more likely he or she is to actually fall asleep and stay asleep. And I would have been wrong, because a tired baby is nothing like that. A tired baby only becomes less and less likely to sleep, and often sleeps restlessly when they finally do go down for a snooze. It's a vicious, vicious cycle. A tired baby does not like being tired though, so a tired baby is also a cranky baby. Therefore, I have spent the better part of today trying desperately to convince Henry that he does want to nap. I pulled out all my tricks--bouncing, nursing, lullaby music, more bouncing, pattting on the back, rocking, reading books, more nursing, cuddling, sitting in the swing, and so on. As that list might suggest, I've had little luck. The boy simply did not want to sleep.

Some things that he did want to do:

Knock over his play mat. Henry's had fun kicking at the supports on the play mat since he first began using it. We figured it was only a matter of time before he finally succeeded in bringing down the house. We were right. For those confused by this picture, let me explain. The mat under which Henry lies is intended to lay flat on the floor. The rainbow and leaf print arches are intended to be located above Henry's head, not around him on the floor. He knocked the whole thing over by kicking on one of the arches repeatedly. Henry's a sweet, gentle child, but he's sure strong.



Jump around. Henry's always loved his Jumperoo, but only recently figured out the fun of bouncing enthusiastically in it.





Henry also wanted to pursue various off-limits items in his explorations today. His new favorite "toys" include the remote controls, the laptop, the sharp corner of the coffee table, and the bricks in front of our fireplace. While he's not crawling, Henry's become very proficient with the rolling, creeping, maneuvering to get where he wants. This makes sense...he's not wasting his time sleeping anymore!