Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Like Mother, Like Daughter?


I love to learn new things. Not just for the sake of knowing something new, but also because I love the learning process itself. All except one aspect of it.

When I am learning something new--particularly if the learning experience is an intense one--it tends to interrupt my sleep. Case in point: sight reading sheet music is really hard for me. It takes every ounce of concentration I have to read a vocal line. (That's why my brother Doug is the musical prodigy in the family and I'm not.) Anyhow, in high school when we were learning new music, I would get so wrapped up in the process that I would be sight reading in my sleep. Which didn't make for very good rest.

Needless to say, then, this new mommy thing has made for some rough nights. First off, you have the issue of a newborn needing to eat every 2-3 hours. Thank goodness Lorien is way past that stage and she sleeps through the night regularly, but still. For a while there I felt like Desmond pushing the button every 108 minutes so that the world wouldn't blow up.

But nighttime feedings weren't the worst sleep problem I had with a newborn. I had serious self-induced insomnia, simply because of the intense learning curve of being a new parent. I just couldn't turn my brain off and sleep. For a month or so (back in October and November) I thought I was going to die if I didn't start sleeping better soon. Finally, I think I'm over that hump and I am returning to my normal self--the self who is able to sleep anywhere at any time. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm getting there.

The funny thing is, I think Lorien must take after me. From the time she was two weeks old, we noticed that whenever she was making some developmental leap, she would take awful naps. Today was such a day. All of a sudden, she was doing three new things at once. First, she was awfully fascinated with touching my face today. Then, she was doing the bridge--like in gymnastics, where you lie on your back and then arch so that you make a bridge, with just your head, shoulders and heels touching the ground. She napped very poorly all day. (Except the nap she took in her carseat at church while I was in a meeting. Then she slept soundly for an hour and a half while three adults talked right over her head. Go figure.)

The late afternoon nap was the worst. She fussed on and off for half an hour until she was really crying hard. She never actually fell asleep (even though she needed it badly). But when I went in to get her, she had learned how to smack her lips. I swear I had never seen her do that before I laid her down for that nap. But she can do it now. What a crazy kid.

1 comment:

  1. I love your blog, Lindy! What a fun adventure you're on... thanks for letting us take a peek :) It's been a long time since our days at Focus, but I'm glad things like facebook can keep us connected :)

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