It's not like Kristi and I weren't warned by every single parent we know."Say goodbye to your sleep," they all said with a smile and a sinister laugh.
Yep.
Elena is just like every newborn; she needs to eat a lot more than our sleep cycles would prefer. And so there's always one overnight bottle to make. Add that to her slow progress toward more night sleeping and... well, we're tired. But you know, it's the happiest "tired" I've ever been.
The current schedule finds Kristi on the clock from 11pm until 4am, and then me from 4am until at least 9am. That division of labor is largely by necessity, as Kristi doesn't fall asleep as quickly as I do... hence, the one who can sleep easiest should sleep first after an otherwise normal evening.
And so, we're often ships passing in the night... handing off the little cutie, quickly exchanging information about when she last ate and when she was last changed... and then going our separate ways.
The one family member left in the middle is Lola, our (approximately) 11 year old gentle-yet-neurotic shepherd mix. Like all dogs, Lola thrives on predictability. And we've been pretty good in recent years. Time for bed; she goes out to pee and then heads to her doggie bed in our room.
But now, what's a dog supposed to do? One of us is in the family room with Elena. The other is sacked out in the bedroom. And to make matters worse, each of us closes the bedroom door to keep our 4-5 hours quiet ones. On the times she's chosen to stay in the family room, she often tries to "go to bed," only to find the door closed. Damn.
Welcome to Babyland, Lo-Dog.
