We may have an un-breakthrough here. I’ve been mildly euphoric this week because Abi has finally figured out a way to put herself to sleep: sucking on a clean, empty bottle. I can lay her in bed awake with the bottle and a blanket after our little book and song routine and she will just lie there quietly for a few minutes until she falls asleep. There have only been two Failed Naps in the past week, after having one a day for, oh, her WHOLE LIFE. It has felt like a miracle. It has felt marvelous, not having those three or four battles to fight each day, helping her get to sleep. She’s been sleeping 12 hours at night and 2-3 during the day, the most sleep she’s gotten since she was a newborn. But something is amiss. Abi’s mornings have become emotional tornadoes. It used to be that she could play happily by herself for quite awhile in the morning while I got ready and did a few chores. No more. After half an hour of wakefulness she loses her happy disposition and things that used to mildly bother her become intolerable. Before nine am today, she had meltdowns over: getting dressed; getting her face wiped after breakfast; getting her nose sucked; her dad leaving for church; my refusal to give her my toothbrush; and something I didn’t understand related to her baby dolls. By 9:30 am, the peaceful intervals between sob fests had shrunk to minutes and then seconds. I decided I couldn’t take her to church in that condition, both for her sake and the nursery staff’s. Now she is in the middle of what sounds like, alas, a Failed Nap. 10 am is pretty early to put her down after a 7 am wakeup. Better go fetch her… I’m not totally sure the morning madness is related to her new sleeping habits. It could be related to getting her vaccinations on Thursday, or it could be related to her not wanting her formula as much anymore, but not replacing those calories with actual food. Maybe I have a perpetually hungry girl on my hands. Off to rescue the baby from her bed….