Stressed out and Overstimulated

These are the phrases that describe both me and Olivia these days...

I am stressed out and she is overstimulated...I guess she is probably stressed out as well.


Which leads me to wonder about the whole nature vs nurture debate. Was she born this little social butterfly or is she the product of her very stimulating environment.




Livia is a good natured baby for the most part. Everyone with the exception of my Mother always comments about how well she behaves. My Mother thinks she's high maintenance and a drama queen...which she certainly can be and usually is when around my Mother for some reason.

But here is the problem. Mitch and I live with his family. Which is great and I love them and Olivia loves them and they are more than willing to help out when I feel in over my head. But here is where the conflict occurs. Tony, Sue, Ashley, Alyssa, Megan, often GG Diana, Mitch, Me Bogie and Zoe.

So many people...so many people to talk to, look at, play with, pick me up when I am crabby or bored. Add to that Bogie and Zoe...the dogs that bark at anything and everything and eachother and are constantly waking her up from naps when the neighbor dog barks, the mailman comes, the wind blows, they see a squirrel, they see a bird, they want a snackey-snack, they want a taste of whatever you're eating, or just for no obvious reason these dogs bark.

Okay next...they are a large family, they are an Italian family, they are passionate people. Passion makes for noise and noise in a rather small house with a bedroom that is directly off of the family room...well you can pretty much hear the entire house in our room. They are lovers of movies in surround sound, music at full volume capacity, they are easily excited, easily angered and any excuse for a party is a good excuse. Noise, noise, noise....chaos usually ensuing somewhere whether it's dogs barking or sisters laughing...never a dull moment. Rarely a quiet one.



So I have been struggling alot with getting her to sleep, especially for naps during the day. Now that one sister is home from college and another is finished with high school. Getting her to sleep at night is pretty challenging as well...this child has an iron will. I guess when you mix Mitchell's ADHD and my stubbornness you get a powerfully willful child. But an awfully cute one that's for sure.



All the baby books say sleep begets sleep and no sleep begets no sleep and we are suffering from the no sleep these days. She just wants to be up all the time. She gets tired and you can see her fighting if off...anything to get to play more, laugh more, interact more with anyone and everyone. I will be trying to get her to wind it down by nursing her in our bedroom and if she hears one of her auntie's voices...especially if it's Ashley she wants nothing to do with eating or sleeping.




I feel crazy at times, literally on the verge of a nervous breakdown almost daily these days. I am tired and worried and stressed out. Entertaining a baby all day is exhausting. I worry that if she isn't resting it's gonna lead to all kinds of development problems...all this compounding to make me very very VERY stressed out. By the end of the day I feel desperate and annoyed and out of patience. I will finally get her sleepy or even asleep and the dogs will bark or the sisters will start laughing or fighting and I just want to kill myself.



So everyone tells me I need to establish a routine with her, get her on a schedule but it's literally impossible the more and more aware she becomes of her very stimulating surroundings!

So here's to hoping for more of this....