Baby Dreams & Early Morning Musings

Caroline has been having trouble sleeping the past week or so, reverting to waking up once or twice a night. Previously, both she and Katherine had been sleeping through the night.

We can only guess about what Caroline is dreaming.
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Tonight, for example, she's woken up two times: Once around midnight, and now -- 4:30 AM.

Caroline in general is more restless in her sleep than her sister.

Caroline will fuss, suck on her arm, and whimper or cry out in her sleep.

Most of the time, she will settle herself back down after only one or two cries.

Sometimes, however, she needs to be picked up and walked around the house before going back to bed.

At least once a night the past week, she'll want a bottle, after which she'll usually settle back down to sleep.

I often wonder what Caroline could be dreaming about with only six months experience in her life to draw on?

I imagine she is dreaming about the trauma of the birthing process.

Or perhaps she has had her favorite toy taken away by her big sister? (Click here for that story).

Maybe she is worried about being left alone, or not being held by Mom or Dad.

Whatever the dreams are, Caroline is usually pretty happy once you pick her up -- that is, IF you pick her up.

The key, of course (as most parents will tell you), is to avoid the temptation to pick her up IMMEDIATELY.

If you pick her up immediately upon crying, she never learns to settle herself back down.

In fact, many times, Caroline's whimpering or crying lasts only seconds, and then she settles down into an even deeper sleep.

If we pick her up, she will almost always wake up and start looking around.

And if she gets used to being picked up whenever she cries -- God help me and Terri!

Of course, it's not an easy thing, to lay in your bed or sit in your living room while your baby cries out in her crib.

Our general rule is five minutes.

If Caroline has not settled herself down in five minutes, we will check on her.

Depending on the level of crying, or other intangible factors, we will either pick her up, or give her another five minutes.

Ten minutes is usually the maximum. At ten minutes, we'll pick her up, no matter what -- after all, ten minutes of hearing your baby cry is like ten YEARS in parent-time!

And of course, we now know how to differentiate certain cries which warrant being picked up immediately.

There are just certain cries we've learned which mean, "I am not well, and I ain't playing around!" In those cases, we pick her up immediately.

All of this, of course, is subject to the realities of life.

Some nights, Terri and I have more will-power than Caroline, and let herself cry herself back to bed.

Other nights, we turn to jello at the slightest cry, and jump to pick her up quickly.

There are no hard or fast rules -- it's all part of the fun of being a parent!

A good night's sleep ensures a good day's play!
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Katherine, for the record, sleeps pretty much all night, like a log!

However, one thing that has intrigued Terri and I about Katherine is her hair.

She has wavy hair.

In fact, when it's wet, it's pretty much tight curls.

Our grandparents had wavy hair, so it's not a complete shock to see her hair.

However, it is pretty uncommon for Asian kids to have wavy hair, so it's fun to see.

Here are some gratuitous baby photos:

A photo of Katherine: Just because it's cute!
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Katherine: Our curly-haired girl!
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