Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011: Magic book

Oh, the screaming. Man, can Gavin kick up a fuss when he wants to. Stacy had the nerve to cut his bath time short (in his opinion) and then she had the nerve to leave for dance class, which means I had to put him to bed. To say he freaked out is putting it mildly. I managed to wrestle him into his pajamas but once the sleep sack came out it was all over. He couldn't be soothed. I tried. He was reaching toward the door clearly wanting Stacy, which was not an option (I mean, I suppose I could have let him hoof it in his footie pajamas down the icy street after her van, but that's just impractical, not to mention teaching him that as long as he screams enough he'll get what he wants or at least some kind of terrible, freezing cold alternative).

I put his sleep sack on the floor because sometimes he likes to put his sleep sack on the floor and then lay down on top of it. But he wasn't having it. He ended up in the corner of his room screaming, just standing there, his face all red and pinched, snot running down his lip, tears a-streamin'. So I decided just to back off. In one of the many parenting books and tips I've read one of them said that if you're kid is in full throttle insane-o-mode and you're in a place that's safe and not public, then sometimes it's just best to let them freak it out. So I sat down on the floor in front of his book shelf a few feet away from him and said, "Gavin, I'm going to read a book while I wait for you to calm down." I got a book of of his shelf, one of the find and seek picture books he likes, and started flipping through it. Boom! Gavin was instantly silent. He walked over and then turned his back to me, his signal that he's about to sit on my lap. Which he did. And though he still had the crying aftershock shudders, he chirped and pointed and turned the pages of this book, this very magic book I had taken off his shelf. Thank god Gavin loves to read.

We've started covering him in his crib with a blanket. Which maybe sounds weird to a lot of folks since almost everyone I know has been using blankets with their kids for a long time, well before they were 18 months. I mean, for a long time we didn't use a blanket because we were worried about SIDS and every parenting advice guide says that if you're going to use a blanket in your child's crib when they are a wee infant you might as well put chloroform on it. So he's been using a sleep sack since day one. Gavin's crib is very utilitarian. There are no mobiles, no crib bumpers, no busy boxes, no crazy patterns. It's just a white crib with a white sheet over the mattress. The only toy is Conejito, his stuffed bunny. I know, it sounds like prison to a lot of people. Don't report us to Pottery Barn Kids, please. In any case, it works for us. Yet another parenting tip we picked up from who knows where. The crux of it is, if you want your child to actually go to sleep in his crib, don't pimp the crib out like it's from Babies R Vegas. In any case, the blanket is a recent thing. They've been using one at day care for awhile now (where he sleeps on a cot like he's in a little toddler hostel).

I can't really remember what prompted us to start using one, though it was Stacy's suggestion. Maybe to get him ready for the real world of sleeping in a real bed in real life someday. I don't know. But, to make a long story longer, he's really taken to it. When I put him to bed tonight I rocked him for a couple of minutes and then lowered him into his crib (the mattress is on the lowest setting now and we don't use the drop down side since the recall, so lowering my 26+ lb. baby into his crib is no easy feat, especially if I want to do it smoothly and gracefully so that I don't undo any or all of the calming created by the rocking). Once in his crib he looked up at me with sleepy eyes and just waited for me to cover him. He gave me a look that seemed to say, "I'm safe and I'm good and I'm going to go to sleep now love you Mama D." I don't know how to explain it, but it was such a sweet moment. And once I covered him up I zipped up his crib tent (the one accessory we use, which was originally intended to keep the cat out of his crib and has thus far worked. Either that or the cat has no interest in going into Gavin's crib) ans left the room. And not a sound. Just the quiet of a baby drifting off to sleep.