Nap Junkie

I've decided our daughter is a nap- junkie. Meaning that if she is not well rested then we can only watch in horror as our cuddly smiley and calm babydoll becomes a whiny fussy little monster.

Right now, it's the world cup season, and there's A LOT of noise in the neighbourhood. This completely messes up our princess's naptime. You would have thought exhausted children are supposed to just drop off to sleep... Well you thought wrong! Our kiddo just goes into completely hyperactive and grumpy mode. She becomes totally difficult to soothe, and just when she finally drops off to sleep from sheer exhaustion, the neighbour's frigging beagle will bark, and I have to start all over again. Oh yeah and the neighbour has started RENOVATION WORK on their house. so there is drilling and banging going on intermitently all day, Is the French Foreign legion still accepting applications?!!

4th July Post Script
Happy 4th of July to all my American (and quasi-american) friends. Sophie is sleeping better today because it was cooler last night so we could shut all the windows to block the noise. She naps better in the day when she has a full 9 hours of sleep the night before. So we have to organize our lives around her nap times (which do not become scheduled until she reaches 4 months).

I could get out more if I found a better way to transport her. We've tried the sarong sling and the baby bjorn carrier, and she HATES them both. She screams like you are trying to kill her when you put her into any one of them. All she wants to do is to be carried in somebody's arms, preferably with her head resting on their shoulder with easy access to her hand (so she can suck it) - this girl accepts no substitutes!

Speaking of which, I thought maybe she should stop using my boob as a pacifier and tried giving her the real thing - but nope, she knows the difference and keeps spitting it out. If you try holding it to her mouth - she cries in angry protest.

Sigh - this one is a high demand kid (or hopefully is it just a phase?) Either way, I have full respect for people like my mum who juggled an infant (me) and a full time job with no helper or maid (just my grandma who babysat me on working days). She told me that in those days, men didn't really help out with raising kids, so 90 percent of stuff was done by her.

Spoilt Ol Me on the other hand, has stopped working, has the cleaning lady to take care of the house, wonderful friends who offer to come babysit, and a devoted husband who takes time off work to carry Sophie in circles around the house (she likes movement) and there are days when I STILL want to throw her from the window....

Okay - in case you think I am serious in that last line (let me stress that it's just a figure of speech like "leave you in the dustbin". My friend's husband thinks I am slandering Sophie because I make her sound so super fussy (when actually she just a normal little baby who prefers doing shots of breastmilk and snoring rather than shots of vodka and snorting).