Improving sleep :)

I'm sitting here eating the breakfast of champions. --A 20 oz Pepsi (no, not diet) and a fun size bag of peanut M&M's. They spoke to me. I don't even like peanuts, but it's protein, right? I do generally have a better breakfast than this, but today I'm too tired to put effort into eating well.

However... It's Not Katen's Fault This Time.... YAY!!!

[Okay, knock on wood] The past three nights, Katen has slept so much better. She finally ditched the insane cold/allergies that were making her rival Daddy in the snoring department and she's taking a few more ounces from her bottle (sometimes all 8 oz!) when she does wake. That seems to be helping to tide her over longer.

She's FINALLY ditched the 11:30pm feeding which was silly to begin with since I know she's totally capable of sleeping a solid 6 hours initially. Her schedule (I use that term very loosely) has changed too which might be contributing to better sleeping habits in some way. She's now taking a nap at 5pm when she gets home from daycare and then going to sleep between 8 and 8:30pm instead of 7pm sharp. The only problem with that is that she's whiny between the nap and bedtime so we'll work on that.

I tried taking her to the park last night after her nap and she wasn't having any of it. She didn't want to ride in the stroller and she was not impressed with me at all when I tried to entertain her with toys. So, we took a really long bath. If all else fails, Kate the Great loves her bath. Maybe it's the serious concentration she uses to grab her toys from sitting position that diverts her attention. Or maybe its the intoxicatingly good smelling baby wash we use. mmmmm... There's nothing like the smell of a baby after a bath. (We're using Burt's Bees babywash. It smells like vanilla, honey, and baby goodness.)

After the bath we said goodnight to the baby in the mirror, and goodnight to Daddy. At that point she actually decided that she'd rather hang with Daddy. She reached out her arms and pushed her pudgy little toes off of my hip in Daddy's direction. (Which is new for her!) He gave her some snuggles and then it was off to dreamland.

She slept from 8pm to 1:45am, took a whopping 8oz of bottle (usually takes 3-5 oz) and then with some encouragement, she fell back asleep until 5am. I generally consider any sleep after 5am a bonus and actually got Katen to extend her slumber until about 6:20am when she started singing from her crib. I-O-ahh... ahhhh... Ggooo-bap. (I'm pretty sure that means "I want to go to college at the University of Iowa. Go Hawks!" but I could be projecting a little.)

Anyway, I'll take this night as a win in the sleep category for sure! Let's hope it continues!!!!!
Oh, why am I tired then? Well... I still wake up every 2hrs, 45mins waiting for her to cry for me and then can't get back to sleep. Isn't' motherhood great? Eh' I'll take it. It really is. :)