Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Still sick and acquiring new skills

Ugh. Olivia is STILL dealing with this nasty cold. Since Friday, November 14th, she has awakened at least once each night to fits of coughing or just miserable cold-related crying. I think she's getting closer to beating this thing, but we are all getting a little weary of it.

This past Friday night, Olivia woke after only a couple of hours of sleep in a fit of violent coughing, and after listening to it awhile, I decided to bring her some water and rock her for awhile. To help with the drainage, I thought I'd put a regular bed pillow in her crib so her head would be elevated. She went right back to sleep and the coughing subsided.

Saturday morning, I heard her wake up. I listened to her babble while my husband was getting up to get her bottle, and I heard a *THUMP*, then a cry, then more babbling. I figured she had just stumbled and fallen down in her crib.

My husband found her pulling paper out of the recycle bin in the office. Oh yes. The little stinker used that pillow to hoist herself up and over the rail. She fell out of the crib, but the shock of the fall apparently wasn't equal to the exhilaration of freedom because she barely cried at all. She just commenced exploring the rooms that are typically closed off to her during the day.

SOOO...we spent all of Saturday rearranging her room (and yes, the pillow has been removed from the crib). The full-sized bed frame and box springs were removed for storage, and the full-sized mattress now sits on the floor right next to her bed. Just in case. It will also help us (we hope) to transition her to sleeping on the mattress instead of the crib, but we haven't yet figured out just how to get her to do that and still be awake when we put her down.

Olivia loves the mattress on the floor. She likes to climb up there and read books and look out the window. And removing the bed has opened the room up a bit, so most of her toys now live in her room. That's a real bonus.

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

Have you thought about using a pack and play in the transition? My friend's children both transitioned to a bed when they were young, too, but they spent a few months sleeping in the pack and play for transition. I'm sure you could teach her to sleep on the mattress, but it's going to be a lot of work at her age - especially at naptime. The pack and play might be a good in between.

HereWeGoAJen said...

She is so smart! I bet she'll be tearing up the sheets to make a rope ladder next.