CIO Update

OK, so I quit being a push over and had Riley cry it out (CIO) last night. The last few nights she was really fighting me. She loves her bedtime routine until we turn the lights down and quit reading books. I think that she could read Goodnight Moon or Barnyard Dance until 11pm if we let her. She loves to turn the pages, shut the book, open the book, stuff the book in her mouth, suck on the book, chew on the book, and look at the cover of the book over and over and over. Don't get me wrong, I love that she loves story time and hope that she'll continue to love it as she gets older. But, I wish she would get sleepy during story time and be ready for bed.

So last night we read a couple books and then I turned off her reading lamp and said "OK Riley, it's time for night, night" and then preceded to rock her. This immediately began the arching of the back, face nuzzle into my shirt, and whine. I stood up with her and went into the bathroom to rinse her paci off and she looked into the mirror and smiled and giggled. It is the cutest thing ever when she does this, but not at night, night time. We went back into her room and I gave her hugs and kisses and laid her down in her crib. To my surprise she didn't cry. We turned on her rain forrest music and movement toy in her crib and she watched it and played with it as I left the room. Two minutes later when the music and movement stopped Riley was whimpering. Brett and I stayed downstairs listening to the monitor and cooking dinner. Several times we thought for sure she was done crying only to hear her start up again. I think we went into her room a total of 3 times in the 35 minutes that it took for her to fall asleep. Finally, the last time I went into her room I put her paci in and placed my hand on her chest (which all I could think of was the feel of her tiny heart pounding away so fast) and turned my head to the side (a tip from my sister-in-law, Casey). As soon as I put my hand on her chest she was asleep. About every 15 seconds she would open her eyes wide and look to see if I was still there. I left her room after a minute or two and she was out for the night!

I think it's fair to say that Riley is stubborn. I'm sure she got this from her mother. If you are a relative of mine reading this I believe that a few stories may come to mind...how about the time I pulled my Aunt Bev's curtains off the wall because I wanted different cereal? Or all the times that I wouldn't calm down from a temper tantrum until I was put in the bathtub and splashed with cold water...all the time yelling "you can't do this to me!" If Riley could talk, I bet she would have been saying "you can't do this to me!" last night.