Miss C turned 20 months old and all she got was a fever

20 months, already?

Yep and for our 20 month day we got, a fever. Lovely. 103. No fun. Funny thing, Miss C was mainly her normal, cheerful, playful self. She snuggled a little more but who would think that would be the only sign (other than, later on, the fever itself). She's doing fine, taking Motrin and sleeping pretty soundly. I just got back from about 15 minutes of snuggling. Miss C woke up and just wanted to snuggle. Poor kiddo.

Well, I started this posting on Monday but didn't get far with it until tonight. Our week has been rough. Miss C has been very healthy so her getting and keeping a fever for more than a day was unexpected and we suffered, that's for sure.

It took 4 days and 3 nights of constant cuddling, sipping on juice and water, sleeping on the couch and sometimes the floor (all of us) and two visits to the doctor but I think we are beyond the worst. Miss C's fever finally broke for more than an hour this afternoon. She still isn't back to her chipper old self, but that will take time. One of the negative aspects of this situation is that we allowed Miss C to sleep outside of her bed. While some folks have done that all along, Miss C hasn't slept in anything but her bed or the cot at school, ever. I mean, she always went upstairs for her naps, always slept in her bed (even her own pack and play when we travel) so this was different. Unfortunately, she liked the different, especially when it means downstairs where we are when she needs sleep.

Well, we had to get her to sleep in her bed tonight. I mean, she wasn't running a fever anymore but she (we all) sorely needs the sleep and we know that she will sleep well in her bed, if we can get her to even lay down in it. That took a lot of doing, a lot of crying and a serious amount of will power. Miss C has discovered that crying gets attention. We are talking to her about not crying just to make noise, especially when she knows the words. I think that will be an on-going battle, but I digress. Tonight after dinner and bath, normal routine, we tried the bed again (last night we caved because she still had a mid-grade fever). Ok, so first I tried, I talked, I asked, I did everything short of close the door behind myself. DH then tried. He even offered to move a different mattress in the room. I tried again. This time I told her she wasn't getting off the bed and I sat at the opening of it. She stood and stared at me like i was the meanest mama ever. We had a stare-off. After about 10 minutes, DH came back in and we told her good night, we love you.

About an hour later (we were terrified to even open the door), DH poked his head in to see if Miss C indeed fell asleep standing up. Ah, success! She was laying down asleep in her bed, for now. Hopefully we won't have to go through this again tomorrow!

Sleep issues

Ok, all of you out there with toddlers, help me out here, please. Since my last string of eve watches (those are when I get Miss C until the afternoon then work until midnight so DH has to get her dinner, bath and bed), Miss C has been having some sleep issues. Specifically, she will fall asleep in your arms but when you move at all or go to lay her in her bed, she opens her eyes and starts to cry. Its heartbreaking.
She is also a little clingy right now. She is my very independent little girl but when she gets tired, she is on me like glue. Our only recourse right now is to lay her down when we know she is tired and let her cry a little. It usually only lasts a couple of minutes if that, but what i was wondering is if this is a phase they all go through and if you have any other recommendations. Please help!

We made it

Well, we made it through the mid watch string.

I swear, I have never been more tired except for maybe the first two weeks after Miss C was born. For the past 5 days, I had to get Miss C out of her crib at 930pm and take her over to Mrs J's for a "sleep over" then go to work until 730am. I would get home by 8am, call Mrs J to check on how she slept etc then catch about 4 hours of sleep and go pick her up. In order to avoid that inevitable Mommy guilt about not doing enough, we always did something in the afternoon after Miss C took a nap. It didn't matter how tired I was (and let me tell you, but Wednesday, I was beat!), we did something. By something, I mean we usually went for a long hike around our neighborhood or played in the yard. We did lots of reading and coloring but it still didn't make up for the fact that I had to disrupt Miss C's sleep, which I will be paying for over the next couple of weeks.

It takes time to develop habits and by the time the string was done, Miss C wasn't even waking up when I got her to Mrs J's. The problem is, she kind of got used to Mrs J jumping up at her every noise, which is something I finally broke myself of when she was about 6 months old. Not that its bad that Mrs J did that, its what i expect because she doesn't know when Miss C doesn't need help or what at night. We have figured out what noises need attending to etc but she hasn't had time to figure that out at night.

Well, last night, our first night back at home, Miss C woke up a couple of times and when I didn't jump right up, decided yea, she really needed me. It will take a couple more days before I get her back to herself but I guess if this is the worst that comes from the string, I can take it.

Our next hurdle is a week of eve watches. That week I will be taking Miss C to Mrs J's in the early afternoon and picking her up around midnight to get her home.

I know that she will take it fine, I just hope she doesn't get into the habit of getting up at midnight. Again, we can deal with it, but argh! You all know how it is. We have been beyond this stage for a long time and now... to have to deal with the middle of the night awakenings again is tough.

I can't wait until June. I am taking a little leave and once DH gets home, we won't have to move Miss C anywhere at night (thank goodness). I am also supposed to come off this crazy schedule and become a "day snake." I can't wait.

Well, that's pretty much it. Hope everyone had a great week! I am attaching a new picture I took during the string. I think its just the cutest!

Is anyone sleeping out there???

Poor DH. Apparently my preggers congestion has gotten so bad that I snore (no, never!) so much that if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he can't get back to sleep. I try and try but can't make it better. :-(
On a positive note, little Miss C is still as active as ever. We think that the hint Alphagal gave about short, slow walks before bed is spot on. Little Miss C makes her way towards the back and seems to relax and fall asleep when I walk and usually doesn't start trying to kick her way out until after I have been in bed for at least half an hour. Luckily, I am usually asleep by that point!
Hmm, other than that, not too much going on. I am "preadmitted". Yea, sounds weird doesn't it. Apparently one plus of military medicine is the ability to fill out and submit all of the requisite registration/admission forms now so once we do go that we won't have to even think about filling out paperwork. Finally, something that makes sense!
That's pretty much it for now. Hope you all are enjoying the wonderful spring weather! It got to 80 here in Socal today! ;-)