The Longest Shortest Time

We Can’t Stop: Escape Artist Edition

You may remember, the last time I talked about sleep, we were dealing with the complications of removing the side from Sasha’s crib and her realization that this meant she could get out of her room . . . as often as she’d like. After processing what was going on through drawings, things settled down a bit. But then ramped up again, hitting a frenzy in which naps could only occur in the car and bedtimes would stretch on for three hours.

“I need milk,” she’d tell me—a stalling tactic that struck me as beyond her two years.

“Another Band-Aid.”

“One more sip of water.”

By the time she came in dragging her “Learn to Dress” monkey, requesting that I put on his sneakers and overalls (which, yes, has a tail hole), I’d had it. “No,” I told her firmly. “I am not putting monkey’s shoes and pants on. That is not something I’m doing right now.” We were both in tears.

After the monkey scenario presented itself a few times I knew I needed a new strategy. What I decided to do was give her a choice. “If you’re not ready to go to sleep,” I told her, “you can lie in bed and take deep breaths, or you can hug a stuffed animal tight, or you can read a book. But you can not come out of your room. Asking me to dress monkey is not an option.”

“Okay,” she said matter-of-factly and ran back to her room.

It’s taken some reinforcing, but these days this is how I find her at naptime:

I’ve peeked in a couple times and sure enough, she is lying on her back thumbing through one book or another. It’s interesting; I sometimes find books in her bed that she flat out refuses to let me read to her. I keep wondering if some of those will slowly work their way into our rotation.

Speaking of our rotation, here’s the current We Can’t Stop Reading list:

Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace’s This Plus That made it on our last list but it has worked its way solidly up to #1. Sasha calls it “Equals” and when we get to the page that defines best friends, I ask her who her best friend is and she always says, “Mommy.” I’ll take it for as long as it lasts.

A close second is Chris Raschka’s heartbreaking/warming A Ball for Daisy, recommended by LST-er Heather. Sasha tends to skip ahead, anxious to see when the ball (spoiler alert!) pops. And she seems relieved when the dog who did the popping brings Daisy a new ball. I can imagine this one continuing to take on new significance as Sasha gets older.

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey is one that I’ve been trying to read to Sasha for a long time. We take annual trips to Maine to visit our good friends (one of whom inspired the title of this blog) and blueberries are by far Sasha’s favorite food, so I thought it would be a natural fit. I was right. Once Sasha allowed me to read it to her once, she was hooked. The story has the added benefit of being about bcoming lost and then found, a theme that never ceases to interest her. She likes to explain to me the conundrum of the book: “Where is little Sal? Where is little bear? Where is little Sal’s mama? Where is little bear’s mama?” And then as the end draws near: “Oh, there she is!”

Eric Carle’s My Very First Book of Colors is one that Sasha mainly likes to read to herself as she’s trying to fall asleep. So I can’t really speak to what her experience of the book is like. All I can say is, it took a lot of frustrated searching before I finally realized what she was asking for when she demanded “blue bird” before her naps. Silly Mama was sure she meant Grumpy Bird.

Mathilda and the Orange Balloon by Randall de Seve has graced this list before and is a title that we return to again and again.

As far as music goes, Sasha is still absolutely, utterly, gaga obsessed with Wild Flag, a.k.a. Ladies Playing Guitars. Between the YouTube video and the CD in our car I must hear their song “Romance” at least 16 times a day.

Luckily, one more song has perked Sasha’s ears: “Hold On” by Alabama Shakes. This performance of theirs on Letterman just blows my mind, and apparently Sasha’s, too. Sometimes, in between Ladies Playing Guitars marathons, she’ll ask for this video. And she’s always sure to point out to me the change in dynamics: “She screaming!” and “She quiet.”

Okay, that’s it for our list. What’s on yours?

P.S. Some exciting stuff going on behind the scenes at LST. More audio coming this summer, as well as—as Sasha would say—”a special treat.”