The elusive schedule

I am obsessed with schedules. Perhaps it's because I don't have one. I had this sunshine-y idea that I would have a baby and she would magically nap and eat at the same time every day. If you have a baby like that, please don't tell me about it. So then I had a baby and realized that whole schedule idea was out of the question. But I kept hoping ... maybe at three months ... maybe at five. OK, so maybe never.

I love to look at sample baby feeding and sleeping schedules online. These people have babies who take regular hour or even two hours naps. Multiple times. Every. Day. They eat every three to four hours like clockwork. Who are these perfect babies???

Today, for example, my sweet girl took an hour an a half nap (completely out of character, by the way. I had to keep checking on her to make sure she was breathing), then two 30 minute naps and then refused her last nap even though she was clearly exhausted (also completely out of character - that has never happened). She really prefers to eat every two hours. A couple times today she stretched to two and a half hours and once even to three. And this is not for lack of trying to get her to consider a schedule. We've tried lots of methods to stretch her naps. And I realized that when my baby's hungry, she's going to eat. Period.

So what's the moral of this story, other than my awe at people whose babies conform to a schedule? I totally thought I would be that parent that created a schedule and got my baby to stick to it. After all, I am the adult in this scenario, right? I also thought I'd be the parent who was completely ready for the cry-it-out sleeping method. I'm tough. Yeah, right.

As I've mentioned before, Addie has introduced me to an entirely new version of myself. One that, most of the time, I like better. Who knew I'd be totally for a baby-is-the-boss situation? Especially since I really like to be the boss. I'm all for a baby-led routine (and yes, I've selected that word over schedule. Makes me feel better.) For the most part, she eats when she's hungry and sleeps when she's tired. And it works for us. As for that whole cry-it-out situation, we haven't tried it in earnest ... and I don't know that we should. Jordan and I are both just fine with her whimpering or crying in her crib for a bit, but upwards of about five minutes of real crying and one or both of us goes a little Modern Family (Have you seen the episode where Mitchell is trying to "ferberize" Lily to get her to soothe herself back to sleep? Cam keeps sneaking in to soothe her and at one point Cam can't stand it, they have a footrace to her room and Mitchell's ankle gets broken. I would totally break someone's ankle to get to my baby when she is crying.)

I know God gave me an anti-schedule baby for a reason. And I'm so thankful that Addie has helped me to be more flexible and go-with-the-flow. A lesson that I seriously needed, by the way. (Although I really want to call those people with the perfect babies and rub in their faces that my baby started sleeping through the night a good two months ago. Their schedules say their babies still wake in the night to eat. Apparently I need some new lessons.) Who needs schedules anyway?