A New Perspective.....

I know=) It looks like she is going to start throwing eggs any minute! This is actually her "extreme" happy look! LOL

It never hurts to get someone else's take on an issue.

All the kids have been sick as well as Quentin and now me. I have been really tired the last few days because of this as well as Alina waking up nightly, sometimes more than once or twice. I would then sit with her for an hour (not good when you are sleep deprived and sick) or sometimes more to get her to go back to sleep. With our other children I would not do this. We would put them back in bed, kiss them goodnight again, and leave the room. I have been sitting up with Alina since we took her from the baby house. She would fuss and get very upset if someone wasn't sitting next to her.

Last night she woke at about midnight and I stumbled into her room to sit in the rocker there. I sat there for an hour before she finally quit rolling around and fell asleep. I was just getting into bed when and I heard her on the monitor again. I couldn't do it again. After letting her cry for a bit hoping she would go back to sleep on her own, we decided that it wasn't going to happen. Quentin volunteered to go down and calm her. We weren't sure if this was a good idea or not since she is still unsure of him, but I was willing to try it! Well he went in, layed her down, rubbed her back for a short while and sat in the rocker. A couple minutes later he got up, patted her on the back, told her goodnight, and left! It was quiet. When he got back I thought "Wow! That was quick getting her back to sleep!" He told me she wasn't asleep, she watched him leave the room. Well, she slept the rest of the night.

Naptime today I tried the same tactic, not sure if it would work with me or not. It did! I can't believe it! Evidently she doesn't require me to actually stay in her room until she is asleep anymore. I was going to start trying to put her down and leaving the room as soon as we all were over this cold since I was anticipating a struggle over this. And it was so easy! We'll see if she will continue this=)

Lesson for today: Be open to someone else's perspective and ideas! It just might work. I would have never thought it would have worked last night. I think it is a sign that she is much more comfortable and secure in her new home as well.