Practice, Practice, Practice!

I always tend to forget about the "practice" stage babies tend to go through during 6-12 months. It always tends to happen at the most inopportune times....nap time, bed time and the middle of the night.

For the last month, Clara has really hit this stage. Hard. A few weeks back, she'd wake around 1-3am, I'd nurse her, and put her back in her crib. She'd immediately wake back up, and then all of a sudden you'd hear her squealing, babbling, clapping her hands and waving. Since we have a video monitor, I was able to watch her. It was super cute, but why does she have to do this at 2am? Some nights, she'd do it for an hour before she passed out. Once she started crawling around, she'd practice in her crib when she awoke. Thankfully, it didn't last too long, and she started sleeping better at night.

Then...it happened again.

Late last week, she figured out how to pull up. Of course, the crib went down one notch. Then, 2 days later, she figured out how to pull up in her crib. Down went the crib. Now, if she's awake, she immediately pulls herself up. The problem? She doesn't know how to get herself down (unless she falls). She feels the need to wake up immediately to practice this new skill she has learned. For me, this is the most frustrating. She doesn't know how to get down, and after 10 minutes of standing, she gets upset and wants to sleep. Usually, if she fusses in her crib, and I leave her for a few, she'll go to sleep, but now, she is just pulling herself up!

Last night, she awoke at 215am, Kevin went in to put her to sleep, but all she wanted to do was pull herself up on the crib! Of course, she was angry and wanted me to nurse her. Every time we'd get her to sleep, we'd walk out of the room, and within 5 minutes, she'd be pulling herself up again!

Right now, I am attempting to put her down for her nap, but since she was not completely passed out when I put her down, she is now awake standing up! She's fussing a bit because she can't get herself down. I look forward to when she learns how to do that!

The first year is filled with so much growth and development it is no wonder babies don't sleep through the night consistently! Their little brains are in over drive just wanting to practice their new skills. For me, this is what gets me through this stage. I try to think of how I sleep when I have "a lot on my mind" - it's tough, and I am sure it is even more difficult for an infant! Soon, she'll be sleeping through the night like her big sisters, and I will miss these days! In the meantime, I'll just enjoy watching her practice on the video monitor!