Okay. It could have been paradise, but it wasn't hell. Maybe a wee bit o' purgatory.
Got home from my office hours on campus to Anna feeding Sofie--a serene and lovely picture. (Dads out there, am I right?) Within the half-hour Anna had left for work. There you go. Four-thirty till nine-fifteen, just Sofie and me.
The first two hours were about what I expected. Sofie started to go to sleep after her feeding, but just sort of dozed for a bit. I held her and just sort of talked to her a little. Then she got more wakeful, so we went over to the Baby EinsteinTM play mat. She had some fun grabbing the ladybug hanging down from the arch. She really grabs onto that thing and cranks it. The setup is set to play a couple of tunes everytime the arches move enough. She pretty much wore the batteries down. All the while she "talked" to her Dad. In fact, she's gone from finding her voice to giving her Dad raspberries. (Keeps one humble, that's for sure. "Hey there, sweetie!" "Glrglmn-thpbt-thpbt-thpbt!")
After she got a little restless, I held her some more. Then she got fussy, so it was pull-out-the-bottle and feed. That went well. In fact, she got even more sleepy (she'd been awake for four hours straight), so when she was suitably snoring, I laid her down.
That lasted ten minutes. From there, the next two hours were pretty tough.
She stayed fussy. I knew it was mainly from being tired. We did diaper changes. We tried the swing. We tried walking around. Nothing worked. She got fussier. Finally, she got pretty worked up. This was about eight o'clock. I didn't know what else to do. So I laid her on a pillow on the futon and said, "I'm sorry, sweetie, but you need to go to sleep. You'll just have to cry for a few minutes."
Don't know what it was, but something did the trick. She quieted down, and within five minutes was snoring soundly.
She did wake up about fifteen minutes before Anna came home, and since it had been a couple of hours, I fed her again. Ultimately, Momma coming home was what she apparently needed. We went through her bedtime routine (massage, read a story, say a prayer and anoint her with holy water, then hold her till she goes to sleep).
On the one hand, it was great to have one long uninterrupted stretch of time with just me and Sofie. I love holding my daugher and interacting with her. On the other hand, I'm not Momma. And Sofie gets that. So I can't quite comfort her the way Momma does (feeding aside). But maybe as more of these Thursday nights pile up, there will be that about Daddy that Sofie understands she needs and will welcome as well.
In any case, I'd rather have a million Thursday nights like last night than the best of, well, almost anything else.
Posted by Clifton at November 7, 2003 01:00 PM | TrackBackDo you really annoint her with holy water? Not being critical if you do- I've just never heard of that practice. Why do you, if you do?
Posted by: Shannon at November 7, 2003 01:23 PMNo problem.
Yes. I got the practice from my parish priest. I do it to commend her to God's care and so that she may tangibly partake of God's blessing.
(Sorry this is a bit off subject, though your daughter sounds like a lovely child.) Is your specialization ancient philosophy? or classics? I'm trying to figure out your major without having to read beaucoup archives. (sorry.)
Posted by: Jeannette at November 7, 2003 01:41 PMAncient philosophy, though I frequently dabble in classics.
And to really throw in a wrench: I have a theology background.
"there will be that about Daddy that Sofie understands she needs and will welcome..." and not only welcome, but prefer, now and again. That's the virture in taking turns as "Parent on Duty," and part of why I'm grateful to have been both raised by and married to an actively functioning father.
Posted by: Jane Ellen at November 9, 2003 02:29 PM