Weekend updates

Things are looking brighter around here. And not just because the sun has been glaring off the snow all day.

Olivia's stomach bug turned out to be just a 24-hour thing...less than that, in fact. By the time she woke up on Friday morning, her stomach was not bothering her anymore. By evening, she was pretty much back to normal (except for her lack of appetite, which she still doesn't have back). I think part of her quick recovery was the 4.5 hour nap she had in the afternoon. AND she went to bed at a reasonable hour, even after the marathon nap. Which leads me to...

Bedtime. So much better than I could have imagined. Last night was day four in the saga of teaching the toddler to fall asleep by herself. Day one was a ninety minute exercise in frustration during which Olivia jumped out of bed at least a hundred and thirty-seven times. But eventually she did fall asleep. On day two, she fell asleep in a half-hour, with only a couple dozen reprimands for getting out of bed. Day three was about the same amount of time, and we diagnosed a fear of monsters, which was remedied by turning on the hall light. Day four (last night), she did not get out of bed and did not make a peep. She just stayed quietly in her bed and fingered her blankie until she fell asleep. It took about 40 minutes, but the point is that she did it, without argument, while I sat on the couch in view of her open bedroom door and read a book.

I think she's starting to accept this process as the "new normal". And the angels sang for joy!

I'm sure we'll have setbacks, but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. And I'm kicking myself for not trying this sooner.