Sophie and I really did have a good run there for a couple of days. We had a couple of good nights where--even though it took me two hours to get her to actually lie down and sleep in her crib and not in my arms--she slept from midnight to 6am. That's DOABLE. But then...Tooth #8 appeared, and all that hard work went to CRAP.
The tooth showed up last Friday night, and then suddenly Sophie was waking up EVERY HOUR again (with extra teeth-grinding bonus!). And since Mary and John had to be up at the crack of dawn for a swim meet, I was forced to roll Sophia and myself up in a blanket burrito and try to keep her quiet on the air mattress. And...it did not work. Well, I mean, it worked in that she was kept quiet since I was holding her and soothing her immediately, but it was a huge step back in sleep training. Because the next night, she would not even go into her crib. And yes, Mary had yet another crack-of-dawn meet, so...I gave up, and Sophie slept in my arms IN MY BED. Cuz I was tired of being cold and uncomfortable in addition to being woken up all night.
And...that's all she wrote. We have regressed back to a baby who seems to only sleep in my arms. The only benefit I can say of that whole mess last week is that Sophia is officially night-weaned. I can sooth her without offering her a boob. Well, yay for small successes?
A good 60% of me really doesn't care. I mean, I knew I was spoiling her from day one. But as Semi-Desperate House Wife said, she's my fourth, and I think I'm entitled to spoiling the fourth and FINAL baby. The ONLY reason why I started this nightmare and the hand-wringing is because I want to take my Brownie troop on an overnight. And I can't do it until Sophie is sleeping through the night. My poor troop didn't get to go on one last year. They really deserve one. And no matter what, we actually have one scheduled in May. But there is no way John will want to deal with a repeatedly-waking baby (TODDLER, by then!) on his own. So...I started the training.
Know what I need? A set of insulated rooms where I can put Sophie down to let her cry, and it won't wake up my other children or my husband. Since that does not exist in my house, I am stuck with a "sneaky" family bed. "Sneaky" in that my husband does not want one, and yet, we seem to have one...! (Last night she slept in her own crib for maybe an hour.)
I might try again this Friday night. Maybe. I dunno. There are no swim meets on Saturday, but there is a basketball tournament on Sunday, so I don't know how much progress I can make. *sigh*
But let me stop whining and tell you all about Mary's swim tournament!! She qualified for 5 different events for her tournament and had to swim last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. She got fourth place overall in the 500 freestyle. She then made it to the finals in her 50 freestyle, 200 freestyle, and the IM. She slipped off the blocks when she dove in for the 50 free, which made her lose some time, but she *almost* caught up (she said she was so ANGRY that she was swimming like a demon to try to catch up!). We're still waiting for official results on those other events, but really, just the fact that she made the finals--and got that fourth in the 500--is a spectacular show for a skinny, little girl who has only been swimming for two years. John and I are just bustin' with pride!!!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
So What
I think I am just too darn old for sleep-training.
Monday night was kind of OK. Because I nursed Sophie to sleep while John and I caught up on some of our DVR recordings (oh, the list of recordings! weeks and weeks behind!). So then when I finally tried to put Sophie to bed (around 11-ish?), yeah, she woke up. I let her cry for the requisite 20 minutes, cuddled her for a while, then lay her down--and she magically rolled over and went right to sleep. Yes! But, due to the extra-long cuddle, it was around midnight before the magic happened, and then she woke up around 6am. And I brought her to bed and nursed her. And all was mostly good.
Well, Tuesday night I decided that I really needed to start focusing on getting Sophie to bed at a more decent hour. I mean, holding her while watching TV for two hours is not conducive to actually training her to sleep in her own bed, you know? So, I managed to lay down with her to nurse in my little air mattress around 9:30. Next thing I knew, it was midnight, and she was still snuggled up next to me. Whoops. So, I tried to put her down, and then the chaos started. After a few cry-it-out attempts, I decided that I had pretty much screwed things up by letting her fall asleep with me in the first place (and John was on his way to bed, and yes, you CAN hear her through the floors of the house!), so I just brought her back to our air mattress, and we both slept a nice, peaceful night.
Have I mentioned that it's just really, really COLD in my den? I don't remember it being so cold when we used it as our family room, but Tuesday night in particular I was freezing my butt off--and this is with wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt (with hood!) to bed. I even double-checked with John that the heating vents were actually OPEN. Yes, indeed. And I wonder if it's not helping the baby sooth herself to sleep so well, either. (Mostly, I think, um, MY FAULT, tho!)
Anyway, last night it was even colder outside than the night prior--and I just couldn't face it again. So, I decided to see just how she would do in her own bed in our own WARM room again. Again, I nursed her around 9:30. Again, I woke up around midnight with her still in bed with me. Again--whoops. This time she went straight back to sleep when I put her in her crib. But then she woke up at 2 (or was it 3?), and since now I'm back to that old problem of Sophie waking my husband, I just brought her to bed with me to cuddle. I know I got her back to bed at one point, but then she woke up again--and she was pretty much in bed with me for the rest of the night. Warm! But baby not in her own bed! Dangit!
Sleep training: FAIL.
ME, not the baby.
I guess the one good thing about all of this is that we have definitely night-weaned. When she has been waking up, I've been able to get her to go back to sleep--albeit with cuddling in bed with me--without nursing. I think that I am going to take that as a SLIGHT success.
Just a few more days of winter break for the older three kids, and then the chaos of getting-ready-for-school mornings start again. I had really hoped to make more progress by then, but I don't think that's going to happen now. Again, I think I'm just too old for this @#$%.
Oh--and Keith turned 11 yesterday. ELEVEN! I am just not ready for my little big guy to start middle school next year, you know? *sigh*
Monday night was kind of OK. Because I nursed Sophie to sleep while John and I caught up on some of our DVR recordings (oh, the list of recordings! weeks and weeks behind!). So then when I finally tried to put Sophie to bed (around 11-ish?), yeah, she woke up. I let her cry for the requisite 20 minutes, cuddled her for a while, then lay her down--and she magically rolled over and went right to sleep. Yes! But, due to the extra-long cuddle, it was around midnight before the magic happened, and then she woke up around 6am. And I brought her to bed and nursed her. And all was mostly good.
Well, Tuesday night I decided that I really needed to start focusing on getting Sophie to bed at a more decent hour. I mean, holding her while watching TV for two hours is not conducive to actually training her to sleep in her own bed, you know? So, I managed to lay down with her to nurse in my little air mattress around 9:30. Next thing I knew, it was midnight, and she was still snuggled up next to me. Whoops. So, I tried to put her down, and then the chaos started. After a few cry-it-out attempts, I decided that I had pretty much screwed things up by letting her fall asleep with me in the first place (and John was on his way to bed, and yes, you CAN hear her through the floors of the house!), so I just brought her back to our air mattress, and we both slept a nice, peaceful night.
Have I mentioned that it's just really, really COLD in my den? I don't remember it being so cold when we used it as our family room, but Tuesday night in particular I was freezing my butt off--and this is with wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt (with hood!) to bed. I even double-checked with John that the heating vents were actually OPEN. Yes, indeed. And I wonder if it's not helping the baby sooth herself to sleep so well, either. (Mostly, I think, um, MY FAULT, tho!)
Anyway, last night it was even colder outside than the night prior--and I just couldn't face it again. So, I decided to see just how she would do in her own bed in our own WARM room again. Again, I nursed her around 9:30. Again, I woke up around midnight with her still in bed with me. Again--whoops. This time she went straight back to sleep when I put her in her crib. But then she woke up at 2 (or was it 3?), and since now I'm back to that old problem of Sophie waking my husband, I just brought her to bed with me to cuddle. I know I got her back to bed at one point, but then she woke up again--and she was pretty much in bed with me for the rest of the night. Warm! But baby not in her own bed! Dangit!
Sleep training: FAIL.
ME, not the baby.
I guess the one good thing about all of this is that we have definitely night-weaned. When she has been waking up, I've been able to get her to go back to sleep--albeit with cuddling in bed with me--without nursing. I think that I am going to take that as a SLIGHT success.
Just a few more days of winter break for the older three kids, and then the chaos of getting-ready-for-school mornings start again. I had really hoped to make more progress by then, but I don't think that's going to happen now. Again, I think I'm just too old for this @#$%.
Oh--and Keith turned 11 yesterday. ELEVEN! I am just not ready for my little big guy to start middle school next year, you know? *sigh*
Monday, February 18, 2013
So Far, So-So
Friday night the Great Getting-My-Darling-Brat-To-Sleep-Through-The-Night Adventure began.
I had the spare room all prepared with the pack-n-play. I set up the CD player with the Beatles lullabies that all my children have loved so much, but Sophie hasn't really been privy to much yet (I dunno--the CD player in my room sucks, and I never got around to switching it with the better one that happened to be in the spare room..?). I put in a night light. I inflated the inflatable mattress in the den for myself.
Sophia started getting sleepy around 9:30, so I lay down with her in my REAL bed and nursed her to sleep. Yes, I know the first thing I'm supposed to do is put her down when she is sleepY and not Asleep, but there is only so much I'm willing to do as a sleep-deprived parent. Anyway, I put her down in her crib (which is easier to type over and over again than pack-n-play) just before 10. And...she immediately woke up, started crying, stood up, and started jumping in the crib. I calmly left the room.
Twenty minutes later, there was no settling down of the baby, so I picked her up (Yes, I know, also WRONG. But again, there is ONLY SO MUCH....). Sophia almost instantly fell back to sleep in my arms--which is what she wants to do EVERY night. After a good 20 minute cuddle I lay her back down in her crib. I kid you not, folks, the SECOND I even BENT OVER an nth of a degree, she WOKE UP and started crying again. (Ah yes, THIS is how she ended up back in my bed every night last month! and for the last 11 months!)
So, we kept playing this game. Scream and bounce in crib for 20 minutes; cuddle and fall asleep for 20 minutes. John even came down at one point and said, "You know, this is a strange room! And a strange bed! Of course, she's going to be waking up and anxious!" Yes, dear, I DO know that. Hence the lullabies and night light! And the cuddles! But since you do not want a family bed, and I cannot possibly ignore a child screaming just one foot away from me, THIS is how we have to do this. John picked her up and cuddled her (it was OK, it was time, anyway).
Finally, around 1am, just as I was about to get her again, the crying faded, and the poor baby fell asleep. She slept until 5am. Then I got her and nursed her and let her stay with me on the inflatable. Because, seriously, after taking over 3 hours to fall asleep that night, I felt she deserved a good, warm cuddle and nursing session after a good 4 hour sleep.
On Saturday, Sophie hardly napped at all. Good! With little sleep on Friday night and no naps, Saturday night should be a piece of cake. I didn't count my husband....
Izzy had a swim meet on Sunday, so John said he did NOT want the baby up all night crying again keeping up Izzy and/or him. I think it's safe to say he meant HIM since none of the three eldest moved a peep through all the crying from the night before.... So, our darling spoiled baby got to sleep in our bed again Saturday night. We all felt well-rested for that early meet on Sunday morning, at least. *sigh*
Last night I nursed Sophia to sleep around 10:00. I rolled her up in a blanket hoping that that would help with the transition from my arms to her crib. Nope. Again, my child apparently has a heightened sense of elevation. After a good long cuddle, and many attempts to get the sleeping, now-NOT-sleeping child in her bed, I finally grit my teeth, set her down, and then tried patting her back to see if I could sooth her back to sleep. No go. I finally bolted out to my air mattress and resigned myself to another long night.
I let Sophia cry a bit longer because I, um, lost track of time a bit. (That's a good thing, right? Since it shows that her crying wasn't feeling like a Fist of Death to my stomach??) Well, she also kept winding down a little, so I waited to get her in the hopes that she would actually, you know, WIND DOWN. And then she'd pick it back up again. So, after about 40 minutes (I still can't believe I was able to ignore her that long!), I got her, wrapped her back up in her blanket burrito, and cuddled her again. And again she fell asleep. And again she woke up with every attempt to lay her back down. Ugh. Well, I finally put her down and made a run for it again. She woke up for about 30 seconds and then was quiet. QUIET! Ahhhhh.... After a few minutes, I tip-toed back in, and sure enough, she was asleep. And she stayed that way ALL NIGHT until I finally WOKE HER UP at 8:30 this morning.
Oh!
Well!
Stay tuned....
I had the spare room all prepared with the pack-n-play. I set up the CD player with the Beatles lullabies that all my children have loved so much, but Sophie hasn't really been privy to much yet (I dunno--the CD player in my room sucks, and I never got around to switching it with the better one that happened to be in the spare room..?). I put in a night light. I inflated the inflatable mattress in the den for myself.
Sophia started getting sleepy around 9:30, so I lay down with her in my REAL bed and nursed her to sleep. Yes, I know the first thing I'm supposed to do is put her down when she is sleepY and not Asleep, but there is only so much I'm willing to do as a sleep-deprived parent. Anyway, I put her down in her crib (which is easier to type over and over again than pack-n-play) just before 10. And...she immediately woke up, started crying, stood up, and started jumping in the crib. I calmly left the room.
Twenty minutes later, there was no settling down of the baby, so I picked her up (Yes, I know, also WRONG. But again, there is ONLY SO MUCH....). Sophia almost instantly fell back to sleep in my arms--which is what she wants to do EVERY night. After a good 20 minute cuddle I lay her back down in her crib. I kid you not, folks, the SECOND I even BENT OVER an nth of a degree, she WOKE UP and started crying again. (Ah yes, THIS is how she ended up back in my bed every night last month! and for the last 11 months!)
So, we kept playing this game. Scream and bounce in crib for 20 minutes; cuddle and fall asleep for 20 minutes. John even came down at one point and said, "You know, this is a strange room! And a strange bed! Of course, she's going to be waking up and anxious!" Yes, dear, I DO know that. Hence the lullabies and night light! And the cuddles! But since you do not want a family bed, and I cannot possibly ignore a child screaming just one foot away from me, THIS is how we have to do this. John picked her up and cuddled her (it was OK, it was time, anyway).
Finally, around 1am, just as I was about to get her again, the crying faded, and the poor baby fell asleep. She slept until 5am. Then I got her and nursed her and let her stay with me on the inflatable. Because, seriously, after taking over 3 hours to fall asleep that night, I felt she deserved a good, warm cuddle and nursing session after a good 4 hour sleep.
On Saturday, Sophie hardly napped at all. Good! With little sleep on Friday night and no naps, Saturday night should be a piece of cake. I didn't count my husband....
Izzy had a swim meet on Sunday, so John said he did NOT want the baby up all night crying again keeping up Izzy and/or him. I think it's safe to say he meant HIM since none of the three eldest moved a peep through all the crying from the night before.... So, our darling spoiled baby got to sleep in our bed again Saturday night. We all felt well-rested for that early meet on Sunday morning, at least. *sigh*
Last night I nursed Sophia to sleep around 10:00. I rolled her up in a blanket hoping that that would help with the transition from my arms to her crib. Nope. Again, my child apparently has a heightened sense of elevation. After a good long cuddle, and many attempts to get the sleeping, now-NOT-sleeping child in her bed, I finally grit my teeth, set her down, and then tried patting her back to see if I could sooth her back to sleep. No go. I finally bolted out to my air mattress and resigned myself to another long night.
I let Sophia cry a bit longer because I, um, lost track of time a bit. (That's a good thing, right? Since it shows that her crying wasn't feeling like a Fist of Death to my stomach??) Well, she also kept winding down a little, so I waited to get her in the hopes that she would actually, you know, WIND DOWN. And then she'd pick it back up again. So, after about 40 minutes (I still can't believe I was able to ignore her that long!), I got her, wrapped her back up in her blanket burrito, and cuddled her again. And again she fell asleep. And again she woke up with every attempt to lay her back down. Ugh. Well, I finally put her down and made a run for it again. She woke up for about 30 seconds and then was quiet. QUIET! Ahhhhh.... After a few minutes, I tip-toed back in, and sure enough, she was asleep. And she stayed that way ALL NIGHT until I finally WOKE HER UP at 8:30 this morning.
Oh!
Well!
Stay tuned....
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
A lesson
So I mentioned last month that I was trying to night-wean my Little Miss. Partly because "It's time." Partly because the pediatrician "suggested" it ("Well, if she is nursing in the night, the worry is that she won't eat as much during the day"). And partly because I have realized all along that I was doing myself and my family a disservice by letting my sleep-deprivation get the best of my parenting gut instincts and spoiling this darling child as long as I have.
Well, it's just not going so well.
The problem all along has simply been logistics. With the crib in our bedroom, I cannot feasibly let Sophia cry it out a little and keep my sanity--or my husband's. She wakes up at 2am crying and immediately gets up, peers over the crib at me, and then starts BOUNCING on her crib mattress until I get her. In order to not annoy my husband, I usually respond immediately. And bring her to bed to nurse her back to sleep. And if I manage to stay awake, I try to put her back in the crib without waking her--which does not always work so well. And then we play the game again around 4:00 or 5:00.
Another issue is the bedtime routine. I never really established a good one. Basically, her routine amounts to: change into pajamas, nurse to sleep. Sometimes I am able to read her a book. Sometimes she is stinky enough I gave her a bath. Most times I am dealing with three other children who need to be carpooled from here to there and then get snacks and homework checks and put to bed and then next thing I know, it's 10:00, and I am having to nurse every ounce of milk out of me in order to get Sophia to finally settle down from all the ruckus.
I tried. I really did. We did OK for a few days. She even managed to sleep through that 5am feeding a couple of nights. And then...I think that the exhaustion just got the best of me. Having to get up and then walk downstairs (in my FREEZING living room) and sway and cuddle her back to sleep took its toll on me. Next thing I knew, that 5am feeding was back, and John and I were wretched messes.
Anyone on the tweets knows that I've been whining for a while about the weary wretchedness. Just...not good. Because suddenly Sophia started waking up almost EVERY HOUR. And I completely forgot my name with all the insomnia.
(Note here that it may have been the unluckily-timed eruption of the 7th tooth that "helped" with this whole mess....)
Well, it came to a head one night when I tried desperately to sooth Sophia back to sleep without nursing her. I actually think I'd already nursed her once...I don't remember anymore. But I do know that that night it took over an hour of dancing, swaying, singing, cuddling before the sleeps finally came. John let me stay in the bedroom while HE tried to sleep on the couch. It was horrible.
So the next night, I went back to nursing her back to sleep. Just so that we could get some sleep. And yes, she kept waking up very, very frequently. And then I realized that she was basically not sleeping AT ALL unless she was in our bed and/or on my chest.
Well, all that on-again, off-again nursing must have messed up my body. Or maybe it was the day I woke up, and she may or may not have been sleeping partially on my breast...? I dunno, but last Wednesday night I came down with a case of mastitis. I spent all that night until Thursday morning running a fever that got up to 101 and with that lovely plugged duct pain in my right breast and...the poor baby. Most of Thursday I was so down with it (I also had an upset stomach), that she stayed in her crib while I tried to shake off the fever in my bed and threw cheerios over the bars at her when she seemed hungry.
Well, I got over my mastitis (and did NOT have to go to the doctor in the 2 feet of snow on Friday! Woot!), but I am still at a complete loss on how to get this baby to sleep ON HER OWN. Meanwhile, the lack of sleep is turning me into a complete hag to my other children--and my husband and I are hardly speaking we are so tired and grumpy.
After another night of the same ol' on Sunday, I decided ONCE AGAIN to make some sort of attempt to clean out the spare room. In my frenzied, sleep-deprived state, I think that I thought that if I could just get her out of MY room, she would automatically start sleeping like the good, sweet child I know she is. So around naptimes and 13-yo sister-availability times, I managed to sort of clean out a corner in that @#$% spare room yesterday where I set up the pack'n'play to start some SERIOUS sleep-training.
I realized last night that the feeble-minded plan just won't work. Yet. I need to set up a comfortable place for myself close by. I probably should start on a Friday night to HOPEFULLY give everyone in the house at least SOME recuperation time when they are not expected to work or stay awake through tests. I need to take a step back and realize that since she's regressed to sleeping with me (or on my chest) again that I will probably fail miserably on most nights and can't expect miracles. It would probably help if I had a rocking chair.
Next week the kids have off for winter break, so at least if we are miserable from this trial period, we can all be miserable together, without early morning bus-catching and then homework expectations (well, except for that poor working schlep, John).
Be prepared for more whining, twitter. It's about to get REAL.
Well, it's just not going so well.
The problem all along has simply been logistics. With the crib in our bedroom, I cannot feasibly let Sophia cry it out a little and keep my sanity--or my husband's. She wakes up at 2am crying and immediately gets up, peers over the crib at me, and then starts BOUNCING on her crib mattress until I get her. In order to not annoy my husband, I usually respond immediately. And bring her to bed to nurse her back to sleep. And if I manage to stay awake, I try to put her back in the crib without waking her--which does not always work so well. And then we play the game again around 4:00 or 5:00.
Another issue is the bedtime routine. I never really established a good one. Basically, her routine amounts to: change into pajamas, nurse to sleep. Sometimes I am able to read her a book. Sometimes she is stinky enough I gave her a bath. Most times I am dealing with three other children who need to be carpooled from here to there and then get snacks and homework checks and put to bed and then next thing I know, it's 10:00, and I am having to nurse every ounce of milk out of me in order to get Sophia to finally settle down from all the ruckus.
I tried. I really did. We did OK for a few days. She even managed to sleep through that 5am feeding a couple of nights. And then...I think that the exhaustion just got the best of me. Having to get up and then walk downstairs (in my FREEZING living room) and sway and cuddle her back to sleep took its toll on me. Next thing I knew, that 5am feeding was back, and John and I were wretched messes.
Anyone on the tweets knows that I've been whining for a while about the weary wretchedness. Just...not good. Because suddenly Sophia started waking up almost EVERY HOUR. And I completely forgot my name with all the insomnia.
(Note here that it may have been the unluckily-timed eruption of the 7th tooth that "helped" with this whole mess....)
Well, it came to a head one night when I tried desperately to sooth Sophia back to sleep without nursing her. I actually think I'd already nursed her once...I don't remember anymore. But I do know that that night it took over an hour of dancing, swaying, singing, cuddling before the sleeps finally came. John let me stay in the bedroom while HE tried to sleep on the couch. It was horrible.
So the next night, I went back to nursing her back to sleep. Just so that we could get some sleep. And yes, she kept waking up very, very frequently. And then I realized that she was basically not sleeping AT ALL unless she was in our bed and/or on my chest.
Well, all that on-again, off-again nursing must have messed up my body. Or maybe it was the day I woke up, and she may or may not have been sleeping partially on my breast...? I dunno, but last Wednesday night I came down with a case of mastitis. I spent all that night until Thursday morning running a fever that got up to 101 and with that lovely plugged duct pain in my right breast and...the poor baby. Most of Thursday I was so down with it (I also had an upset stomach), that she stayed in her crib while I tried to shake off the fever in my bed and threw cheerios over the bars at her when she seemed hungry.
Well, I got over my mastitis (and did NOT have to go to the doctor in the 2 feet of snow on Friday! Woot!), but I am still at a complete loss on how to get this baby to sleep ON HER OWN. Meanwhile, the lack of sleep is turning me into a complete hag to my other children--and my husband and I are hardly speaking we are so tired and grumpy.
After another night of the same ol' on Sunday, I decided ONCE AGAIN to make some sort of attempt to clean out the spare room. In my frenzied, sleep-deprived state, I think that I thought that if I could just get her out of MY room, she would automatically start sleeping like the good, sweet child I know she is. So around naptimes and 13-yo sister-availability times, I managed to sort of clean out a corner in that @#$% spare room yesterday where I set up the pack'n'play to start some SERIOUS sleep-training.
I realized last night that the feeble-minded plan just won't work. Yet. I need to set up a comfortable place for myself close by. I probably should start on a Friday night to HOPEFULLY give everyone in the house at least SOME recuperation time when they are not expected to work or stay awake through tests. I need to take a step back and realize that since she's regressed to sleeping with me (or on my chest) again that I will probably fail miserably on most nights and can't expect miracles. It would probably help if I had a rocking chair.
Next week the kids have off for winter break, so at least if we are miserable from this trial period, we can all be miserable together, without early morning bus-catching and then homework expectations (well, except for that poor working schlep, John).
Be prepared for more whining, twitter. It's about to get REAL.
It's Electric!
A week ago Saturday (er, Sunday morning), I was woken up around 1:00am by my husband saying, "The power is out." Um...huh? So, he wanted me to grab a flashlight and help shine his way down the basement steps so that he didn't fall and break a neck or something on, you know, all the random socks and towels that get thrown down the stairs on a daily basis. *cough*
He explained as I tried to wake up that he was playing video games on that box with the X when everything went black...and yet the kitchen light over the stove was still on. Huh. So, he checked our fuse box there in the basement and strange? no circuits have been tripped? We started fiddling with lights down there and noticed that random ones worked--along with the refrigerator down there, the heater (thank goodness!), and the washer--but not the dryer. Huh.
We came back upstairs and played some more. Really random stuff worked. He tried tripping the whole house. Nope. Same random stuff worked and same did NOT work. We peeked outside, and our neighbors to the left still had power, but we couldn't tell with the folks to the right (across the street is on a different grid). So John decided to call the power company to see if there was some sort of outage, although it seemed unlikely. Nope.
Meanwhile, the outage woke up Keith, who is not particularly comfortable sleeping without his closet light on (Oh boy, he's gonna find this post one of these days and completely DIE of embarrassment, isn't he? Sorry, buddy!). Anyway, Keith and I hung out while John went outside with the flashlight and started following the power lines around the house with the beam. Wouldn't ya know it? He found a break in one of the lines on the edge of our property!
So, another call to the power company where he gets to hit the Armageddon button, and goodness, he gets to talk to a real, live person! She seemed unimpressed with John's finding of a broken power line and simply takes down his name, address, and the nearest intersection and says someone will come out. And then...that's it. John gets off the phone and realizes he doesn't even know WHEN someone will come out. Now? Tomorrow morning? Um...? Unhelpful person on phone..., hello?
Keith curls up on the couch, and I go back to bed (Sophia had awakened by this point, and she OF COURSE, needed to be nursed back to sleep.) Around 2:15-ish I hear lots of noise of the big power company truck pulling in.
Not 30 minutes later, the two guys had been shown the line, gotten their ladder out, spliced the line back together, gotten the power running right through the whole house again, picked up their flashing lights and orange cones, and left. Neat. We were all back in bed and slumbering within minutes.
Amusingly, Mary was staying the night with a friend that night and not part of the fun. Her friends took her to a church-sponsored breakfast the next morning where the gentlemen sitting across from her sort of recognized her, got chatty, and ask her where she lived. When she told him her street, they both realized why they recognized each other--it's the guy who lives across the street! "Hey," he says, "What was going on at your house at 2:00 in the morning? The dog woke me up barking his head off, and I see the power company blocking your driveway?" Of course, she had no answer to that. Heh.
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