OK - first off, I know she has brain damage and that people with brain damage can have a hard time regulating sleep. That said, I think she is, dare I utter it....outgrowing her NAP!
Yikes! The sacred Nap with a capital N!
The Nap. A law unto itself allowing all mothers much needed down time. A traditional time to regroup and prepare for the next round of caring for small child 101. Time to recharge for round 2 by way of a sanctified cuppa sanity!
But, yes, it's true, it's not just a nasty rumor. They do, eventually, sooner or later or sooner, outgrow the nap, brain damage or no. And I think my warrior princess is making this developmental milestone with all the irony of that! Sitting, we missed it. Standing and walking, well we are about 4 years behind on those too. But the end of the Nap - right on schedule!
Still, I will gladly give up my cuppa sanity time in order to get that hour back at 3am. It's not a bad deal. And as all mothers of kids with a disability know, there is plenty to do, in terms of working with her. Yes, baby boot camp in full swing. With wonderful pieces of machinery around like the Pony gait trainer, the Creepster Crawler and the tried and true A-B-C foam mat - there is plenty to do, never mind our exercises from Advance which are in bad need of renewal.
So, it's the end of the Nap. End of the Nap. Did you hear that echo?
No, really, I'm OK with it. Really!
;-)
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Picture Description: Baby Ellie in February 2002 in the NICU "growers and feeders" crib at 3 months actual age, minus 2 days old adjusted age as her due date was Feb 4 and this pic was taken on Feb 2. She weighs about 3.5 pounds and is wearing a preemie onesie from Jannie and Jack. The bump on the top of her head is the reservoir, since removed, that they used to to ventricular taps to control the hydrocephalus. You can see her head is a bit swollen due to the intercranial pressure. See why she is a warrior princess?!
