Bumps and Beasties

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!

Traditional Scottish Prayer

I have decried the use of cry-it-out sleep training in other posts, for many reasons (yes, sorry, the pun was intentional). I believe that God responds to my cries in the night, regardless of how trivial they may be. From a scientific standpoint, flooding their little systems with cortisol is not a healthy thing. And from a purely selfish point of view, cosleeping is much easier for us than listening to a crying baby. There is another reason. Regardless of what parenting strategies you employ, there are certain things that we simply cannot force in out children. Ultimately, you just can't force a baby to sleep. I'm an adult and I can't even make myself fall asleep when I want!

Last night, after both siblings were sound asleep, our youngest was still wide awake. She wasn't crying. She was just awake. I suspect she may be getting ready for a milestone breakthrough, and I know she has been working on molars. We lay there quietly for awhile, then she kicked her leg against the crib we have sidecarred and said in a very satisfied voice, "bump". There was no doubt she felt things were too quiet and boring, and so she took the initiative to provide us with some entertainment. Every few seconds, she would kick again and repeat, "bump" in a tone of delight.

Sadly, we were too tired to show any enthusiasm for her performance. She was quiet for a few moments, and I began to drift toward sleep. Suddenly, the darkness was rent by a ferocious growl. It nearly made me jump. She continued growling and hissing for several minutes. I discarded any "Exorcist" scenarios, but I was wondering what on Earth had prompted the switch from bumps in the night to what sounded like some rather terrifying beasties. Then Carlos and I saw it and laughed. She had found Joel's plastic dinosaur and was playing with it.

That was even more fun than bumping the bed! She entertained herself for a good two hours after our usual bedtime (yawn). It was pretty cute, but I would have found it much more endearing in the middle of the afternoon. After she finally fell asleep, she woke several times (probably the molars) and several other times said something in her sleep and then giggled (milestones coming up???). I am glad that she was happy through most of it, but I really hope that there are no more beasties or bumps tonight!