Up all night

Paul’s coworkers are an amazing group of people. When they heard about Kaia’s newest diagnosis of cancer, they got together and bought her a bunch of hats (for when she loses her hair from the chemo), toys (for those chemo and doctor visits), and a couple of the hugest stuffed animals.

One was a giant stuffed Minnie Mouse. It’s as tall as Kaia. Kaia wasn’t too interested in her at first. Our living room is getting overtaken by her toys so I decided to put some stuff up in her room, including Minnie. I put Minnie with a couple other large stuffed animals right by the crib.

That night it took Kaia an extra long time to go to sleep. We still use a baby moniter and I heard her awake, cooing, making happy squeals and noises all night long. I don’t think she slept more than a couple hours. I didn’t go to her because she wasn’t fussing, but I tried to figure out why she was up.

Could it be the sleep disturbances so common with her syndrome finally manifesting? Could it be the side effects of the chemo keeping her up? Maybe she’s constipated and just can’t sleep.

The next day she fell asleep quickly for her nap and slept a good solid two hours – a great nap for her. Not a surprise after being awake practically all night long. At the end of her nap, I heard her awakening and making the same excited squeals and coos as the night before. As I cracked the door to get her, I saw her stretched out in the crib on her belly, both hands and arms completely extended through the crib rails, reaching out and playing with Minnie.

Aha! That’s why she was up all night. She was just having a party with Minnie all night!

Minnie is no longer a resident in Kaia's room. She has moved to the hall outside Kaia's door, and Kaia very happily greets Minnie each morning and after waking from her nap with hugs and squeals.

And all sleep order is restored in our house.