Searching for Mommyhood: Halloween (and Sleep)

Today was NOT a good day for Jordyn to skip her nap! I think I'm in denial that she's starting to not need one anymore. Lately, it's been taking absolutely FOREVER for her to fall asleep, both at nap time and bedtime. It doesn't help that she's been making me stay upstairs (in my room, not hers, but still) until she falls asleep. Some nights it's taken over an hour! Plus, she's been doing this incredibly annoying thing where after she's quiet for a few minutes, she calls "mommy mommy mama" in an upset way, yet not really crying or screaming. I go in, and ask what's wrong, and all she says is "mama mommy mama" again. It's so frustrating, because she's perfectly capable of using words to tell me what she needs or wants, but she doesn't/won't. She just keeps repeating mommy and mama over and over again. Sometimes she'll eventually tell me she needs a hug and a kiss. Sometimes when I try to say night night and leave the room again, she gets really upset and starts to cry and scream and yell mommy and mama over and over. This usually happens several times before she eventually goes to sleep. Except today she never slept.

My parents watched her on Tuesday because I worked that day and I usually don't work Tuesdays so she doesn't go to school that day. They couldn't get her to sleep, although she did lie in her bed for about 1.5 hours and rested. She fell asleep in the car on the way home from their house around 7:40pm, which is early, but she hadn't napped. That was new territory, because she NEVER falls asleep in the car at night/bedtime, while she almost always will during the day at nap time. Somehow, I was able to bring her in, change her diaper, and get her into bed without waking her up. Thank g-d she's transferable!!

She napped at school on Wednesday and Thursday, but skipped it again today. So it seems every third day she no longer needs to nap. Ugh. I've been dreading this! But I will say, she went IMMEDIATELY to sleep tonight! With all the Halloween festivities and no nap, she was worn out!

But, I digress. This was supposed to be a Halloween post!

Jordyn dressed up as Minnie Mouse. We started the day, in costume, at our Music Together class. Then we came home and carved two pumpkins and attempted a photo session on the front steps (she didn't really cooperate much), before lunch and a long, exhausting, stressful attempt at nap time. I'm pretty sure if someone had tested my cortisol (stress hormone) level or blood pressure, both would've been through the roof!! I eventually gave up and instituted "rest time" where she had to stay in bed but could read books instead of sleep. We were both much happier.

We started our first round of trick or treating around 3:45. As we did last year, we went to a town square in a neighboring town and met up with Jordyn's friend Alice. Most of the businesses in the square participate in trick or treating for young kids from 3-5pm. I'm pretty sure I remember that last year, Jordyn wanted to eat each piece of candy immediately upon receiving it. This year, she barely remembered to ask to eat it, but said (ok, more like whined) "I want more" as soon as she turned away from each bowl.

We got home a few minutes after 5, and then relaxed for a while and Jordyn watched an episode of her new favorite show, Super Why. I actually tried to get her into this show, because a colleague's son was able to identify every letter of the alphabet by 20-21 months after watching it for a while! I debated an early dinner and then trick or treating in our neighborhood or vice versa. No one seemed to be out yet, but Jordyn also didn't want to eat. I handed her a bowl of cut of apple while she was watching tv, and she ate almost all of it, so at least I knew she wouldn't be really hungry while we were out.

Round two of trick or treating probably started at maybe 5:45. It was our first Halloween in our new neighborhood, and I figured it would be a good chance to meet some neighbors, plus, it would be Jordyn's first time doing traditional door-to-door-at-houses trick or treating. I knew she'd like it.

So, without a nap, and without dinner, out we went. We went to exactly one house before the meltdown. She wanted to eat the candy, and I told her we weren't going to have candy for dinner (I knew if I let her eat the very first piece of candy she got, it would be a slippery slope and she'd want to keep eating it), that she needed to leave it in her (plastic) pumpkin and she could eat it "later". Epic tantrum. I carried her into our house. At least we were only across the street! She was SOOOO mad; she really wanted to go trick or treating! I waited until she calmed down, explained that we could only go trick or treating if she would leave the candy in her pumpkin to eat later, and that we were only going to GET candy, not eat it (right now), that we were going to come home and have dinner first. She finally agreed, so I decided to give it another try.

I'm glad I did. She actually was able to really turn it around and did fantastic. We went all the way around the block, meeting some neighbors on our street and a couple on the street behind us. We now know the name of the dog we sometimes see in the yard right behind ours! As soon as she turned away from each house, before we were even down the front steps, she said, "I want to get more candy". At one point, walking between houses, she said, "This is fun!". She did want me carry her at times, which was really no surprise, and I hadn't brought a stroller. I envied the parents who could stand on the sidewalk and just watch as their kids went up to the door and rang the bell. A few years, I'll get there!

It got a little hairy at the end, when for whatever reason, the last three houses we went to, no one answered the door. They all had porch lights on, so it seemed like they would be there and have candy, but they didn't answer. Jordyn was starting to get upset, and I really didn't want to have to backtrack further away from our house to go to one more house, but I eventually got her in by telling her she could trick or treat at our house and I'd give her candy. Honestly, I don't even think that happened, because I guess we both forgot about it. Once we were in the house, it was just over.

When we got home a few minutes after 7, I lit our jack-o-lanterns and turned on the porch light while we were eating dinner. The doorbell rang exactly twice in the 20-30 minutes the light was on, for a total of three trick or treaters. I turned the light back off when we came upstairs for bedtime, and I'm still sitting on my bed as I type this, even though she went right to sleep.

What a day! To be honest, a lot of it was incredibly frustrating and stressful, and I'll admit I did a fair amount of yelling, which I hate. :( The whole nap thing is just driving me insane, and she's been having a tough time being a "good listener" lately. But, we had some good times and the day ended well with her turning it around for trick or treating, so all's well that end's well, I guess!