Lately, when putting Bridget to bed, we ask her, "ready to sleep?" and say, "ready for bed." This morning she woke-up and asked me, "ready to wake up?" and said, "ready to play."

We haven’t written much on here about Bridget’s talking in the past few months, but it is progressing exponentially. I remember reading something in a baby book that said, “When you go shopping with your baby, ask them whether they want to buy what you’re holding. One day they’ll surprise you with an answer!” At the time I couldn’t even imagine when Bridget would be doing that. Now, on the other hand, she’s a veritable one-toddler show: singing at the top of her lungs, announcing what she’s doing/what she wants at all times, and “reading” (ie. reciting from memory) her books out loud to herself.

Then there’s the talking. Here are some of the longer phrases she likes using, to give you some kind of idea what I mean:

• Baby’s having troubles.
• Dada fix the birdfeeder way up high.
• Old Navy, 100% cotton, made in China [this is what the tags on some of her clothes say].
• Where’s Juanita [the cat that lives upstairs]? Must be sleeping with Taniss [her owner]. Probably. Yeah.
• Might be raining outside. Might be windy. Might be boom boom boom [thunderstorm].
• Mama sleeping in there. Come back two minutes.

Although I have not made record of the last few nights, do not assume they went well. To assume makes and ass out of you and me.

You heard me.

Night # Whatever.

8:00-12:00 Bridget slept.
12:00-2:00 Mom walked with Bridget. No reading books, no nonsense. No crying, but no sleeping.
2:00 - ? Dad walking with Bridget.

Night #4: Went well. Will spare you the details.

Night #3

1:31: She slept from 7:30-10:30 which is good. 10:30 - 12:30 was mostly walking and lots of crying. Because of the crying I didn't give Mike much of a chance to take her - an instinct I am not willing to 'turn off' (though she is crying as I type). Then we took her in the car, mostly for me because I was about to give up. She didn't sleep but Mike and I had a coffee and a nice talk about the effects of lazy movie watching.

Just in general I am feeling a bit discouraged. Sure we could walk with her for hours every night and avoid feeding her but even when she does sleep she is awake again in a couple of hours so this really isn't any sort of long term solution. Blarg.

2:07: Holy crap she is asleep.

Night #2

1:54: Bridget went to sleep at 9:45 and, thank goodness, Mike and I shortly after. It's been a hour so far of walking up and down the hall, "to the big fan, back to the little fan, see Bridget? Now back to the big fan." The house is noticeably hotter tonight and my patience, noticeably shorter.

Conclusion: Mike is my hero. He walked/rocked her to sleep by 2:30 and she slept until 4:30. Just to be clear we are calling anything after 4:00am 'the morning'. Bridget can 'eat from Mama in the morning.'

Night #1

12:00am: Bridget woke-up at 10:00 after two hours of sleep. Mike walked with her and soon, little moans turned into wails - "Eat from momma in the bed." I couldn't stand much and took over. I felt up for it and Bridget's kicking and screaming was mostly just screaming. At 11:00 we went outside.

[Mike update: Katie and I took Bridget for a walk outside for almost 45 minutes, with varying degrees of success. Eyes closed, but kicking; eyes open, but floppy; wide awake and giving us play-by-play ("dog barking," "red door," etc.). We came back. I read Bridget Lost And Found four times in a row, at her request, but at the first sign that I was going to walk with her again she ran back to Katie, interrupting her blogging.]

12:48: I think Mike slept for 30 minutes or so. I almost had her asleep in the bed next to me. Finally, I am exhausted and have gave her back to Mike. She is crying again. I will try to lie down.

1:00: I suck, I have to get her.

Conclusion: Mike did get her to sleep around 2:30 then again at 3:00. We did it, after 4:00 was fair game and I nursed her to sleep. Only until 7:00 of course because, you know, work.

As you may have heard, some pretty major tooth decay has taken place in Bridget's mouth and breastfeeding at night is to blame. Sort of. Let's just say that on a scale of zero to ten - formula, juice, etc. being a ten and water being a zero - breastmilk is a one. In other words, it is not nothing to worry about; it is something.

(If you are about to suggest I didn't brush her teeth enough or are worried for your own child/think breastfeeding is all bad, please, there is a lot more to the story, just ask.)

In the end, this 'pretty major tooth decay' has forced us to book some 'pretty major dental work' under an always-best-to-be-avoided general anesthetic. I am scared and I don't want to have to go through it more than once (oh yeah, and Bridget will have to go through it too). Bottom line: the night feeding has to go.

This will not be easy. The next few, and possibly several, entries on this blog are for me and Mike (and those loyal friends and family who remain, uh, bored at work) as means to chronicle Bridget's sleep and ours over the next week or so. God help us if it takes any longer.

That's it! Wish us luck! (P.S. I am not prepared. This means we may give up, but don't cut us slack if we do.)