light

Only 5% of babies are born on their due dates. Isn't it amazing that the date that you repeat over and over to people as being "the day" really doesn't have much chance of being "the day" at all? Doctors like to talk about a due window instead of a due date. This due window begins at 37 weeks and lasts through 42 weeks. It's basically the three weeks BEFORE your due date that they will not attempt to stop labor if it starts though the two weeks AFTER your due date that they consider it safe for you to continue carrying your baby. At 39 1/2 weeks today, I am right smack in the middle of my due window. So, really, any time now would be good.

But anyway......
Flora can turn on her light now. I have mixed feelings about this new skill. It is nice that she can wake up in the mornings and turn on her light and play for a while instead of yelling for us to come turn on her light, BUT she also gets out of bed and turns on her light at bedtime and naptime. At naptime, I usually just let her play in her room with the light on until she eventually crashes somewhere on her floor. Unfortunately, she doesn't ALWAYS end up crashing. At bedtime, I put her to bed and then go back into her room three or four times to turn off the light before she finally falls asleep. Last night, her light was off and she was asleep when I went to bed at 1am, but when I woke up at 4am I saw a sliver of light coming out of her room! Did she have an early-morning tea party in her room? Or did she just wake up, turn on her light, and immediately crawl back into bed? I guess I'll never know, but at least she was sleeping when I quietly opened her door and turned off the light.

This has all started in the last week and has resulted in a very grumpy, sleep-deprived almost-3-year-old. I know some kids are ready to give up naps at her age, but she definitely still needs that extra sleep. She didn't nap yesterday, didn't settle into bed until after 10pm last night, and woke up earlier than usual this morning, so I'm anticipating a rough day. Just a few minutes ago she had a complete meltdown in the hallway because I gave her the wrong shirt to wear. She wanted "the green shirt with flowers, NOT the green shirt with the butterfly!!!!" Oh my, how could I have made such a HUGE mistake? Chris thinks we should just take her light bulb out and I am getting close to agreeing with him!

I'm hoping that Flora will take a good nap today and go to bed at a decent hour so that she will be magically transformed back into my sweet little girl tomorrow.