There Was a Little Girl

This poem, written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, sums up Evie over the past week.

There Was a Little Girl
There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid.

Evie is the best thing ever to happen to us. She is so much fun lately! Just yesterday, she was running around with a towel draped over her head, laughing hysterically like it was the funniest thing in the world. I love to watch her when she hears an airplane overhead. She looks up, scanning the sky until she locates the plane. Then she reaches her little hand to the heavens and says "Bye, bye airplane." She is very loving to Murphy, petting her and cooing whenever she has the chance. (If only Murphy returned the affection.) She gets so excited about things, like driving to the pool. She is even happy just putting her shoes on. Life is good with her. When she is good, she is very good indeed.

But something about her changes when the sun goes down. I have written about her troubles sleeping, and things have gotten worse. For the past week, we've really been struggling. Evie wakes up and nurses right back to sleep. I carry her into her room, put her in her crib, make sure she's settled, and leave. Only, she's messing with me! As soon as I drift into dreamland myself, I hear it: "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"

At first, I rushed back in, settled her to sleep again, and got back in bed myself. But the cycle continued, and Evie woke back up. It would take three or four very painful tries before she was down for good. And she's been doing this several times each night. I'm embarrassed to admit I've been doing quite a bit of yelling at her in the middle of the night, which I'm sure can't help her sleeping situation.

A few nights ago, I decided I would nurse her back to sleep, but let her cry a bit if she woke up after I left her room. Of course, she did, and I just closed our bedroom door so it didn't wake Chris. After about four or five minutes, Evie fell asleep! YAHOO! Friday night, she only woke up once. I was ready to sigh with relief, sure she was back on her normal schedule.

But when she is bad, she is horrid. Last night was unbearable. She woke up at midnight, and I brought her into our room for a nursing session. She fell asleep easily and I laid her back in her crib. But less than ten minutes later, she was up calling for me. I closed my bedroom door and prayed to God to help us through this. Even though the sound was muffled, I heard her cries escalating. After fifteen minutes, she was sobbing so hard we thought she was going to vomit. I went into her room and rocked her back to sleep. When I tiptoed away, I heard a sad little "Mommy?" I rocked her again. Eventually, I took her into our room to sleep.

It didn't end there, though. For an hour and a half, she tossed and turned in our bed. I dozed a bit, but never made it into a deep sleep. I kept threatening Evie to be still or she had to go in her own bed. Finally I took her to her room. She pointed to the rocking chair, but I was having none of it! I told her I loved her, and left the room. Instant wailing! Chris and I debated about what to do. PLEASE, WHAT DO WE DO? Her cries were hoarse by now, and we took pity on her and brought her back into our bed. After a total of four LONG hours, she fell asleep. It was 4:00 AM. She stole my pillow, but she was sleeping.

What could be causing this? Teething is about the only thing I can think of, so I gave her Motrin before bed. I am nervous about what tonight will bring. I hope and pray it brings a little rest to all of us.

If you have any advice, I sure could use it about now.