Lullaby and Goodnight

This week, we had a very rough night with Juliet.  She got out of her groove because she missed a sleep session because of a visitor.  Neither Ray nor I realized just how badly this would mess her up, but she ended up being too tired to eat later on and then fighting sleep and basically screaming her head off for roughly six hours.  It was not a lot of fun, but we learned some valuable lessons out of it.  First and foremost, we will not be letting visitors keep Juliet awake again any time soon.  After she eats, her wake time will be calming, not stimulating.  Perhaps when she's older, we can reconsider this decision, but right now, that rule is non-negotiable.

Beyond that priceless lesson, I also realized that singing to Juliet can help calm her down.  But she doesn't like it when you sing traditional children's songs to her.  "ABCs" and "Lullaby and Goodnight" leave her utterly unimpressed.  Out of sheer desperation, I wracked my brains for songs I could remember the words to.  Considering how sleep-deprived and frustrated I was, I couldn't come up with much.  The first song I thought of was "A Pirate Looks at Forty" by Jimmy Buffett.  Juliet immediately quieted down.  Anyone who has ever had the unfortunate experience of hearing me sing will know that it was not my beautiful voice that calmed her.  It had to be the song.  After I got her settled, I sent Ray a text that said, "Tip: Juliet finds 'A Pirate Looks at 40' really soothing."  I also considered her reaction to this song proof positive that Juliet is totally mine and Ray's child. 

Later on that day, she was fussing again.  I ran through "Pirate" two times, and she was still not totally satisfied.  I grabbed the iPod that we'd been using to play white noise for Juliet and scanned through it, trying to come up with ideas of other songs I knew the words to.  It was mostly Spanish conversation and terribly hard, inappropriate music for Ray's workouts.  But I did find "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show and started to sing that.  Her eyes got heavy, and she stopped fussing entirely.  Success!  (I also thought the fact that Juliet liked this song to be pretty cool since her great-grandfather played in a bluegrass band.)

At roughly 1:00 am the following morning, Ray and I were in the nursery trying desperately to get Juliet to stop screaming.  I practically yelled at Ray (to be heard over her screams), "Pirate!  Sing Pirate!"  As we started to sing, she stopped screaming and started listening.  After we got her calm enough to put down, we immediately went to my computer and made a "Juliet Sleep Mix" playlist.  It includes songs from Van Morrison, Rufus Wainwright, Jack Johnson, Kenny Chesney (hey, "You and Tequila" seemed extremely appropriate at the time - don't judge us), and others.

After her next feeding, we put on her playlist and sang along with a song to get her settled down.  As we closed the nursery door behind us, Ray grabbed my hand and we danced to "These Are the Days" and "Into the Mystic" as they played in Juliet's room.  We were deliriously tired and happy to have found a quick go-to to help us quiet our screaming child, and it was nice to share the victory.  We were so proud of ourselves and our sweet, sweet baby that staying up an extra few minutes to dance was really nice. 

Ray reminded me as we danced, "We're going to be okay.  This phase doesn't last forever.  If it did, no one would have more than one child."  I cried/laughed and said, "One day, you'll be dancing with Juliet on your feet to these songs.  You'll have to tell her about this."  I have no doubt that his version of the story will include how happy we were to have her and how impressed we were with how loud such a little thing could be.  Really, when she gets going, it's amazing to hear such a small set of lungs produce cries at that volume.  I think it's yet another sign of her exceptionalism.  :)