Mercena Five Weeks; or, The Return of the Swaddle

(Why am I naming days?)
9/19/14, Day 14,017 (Mercena Day 35): Mercena Five Weeks

Well, we’re trying not to get our hopes up, but yesterday really did feel like a turning point. The gains of two days ago and the step back the yesterday solidified into a pattern that really seems to be working. Now that we understand she needs help falling asleep, both her sleep and waking time have improved greatly.

And so the baby that seemed to be fussing whenever she was awake has become, however temporarily, the baby that’s happy to be awake, mostly happy to go to sleep, and–heavens to mergatroid!–sleeping more deeply in the night. A return to swaddling, which she used to hate, has made a big difference.

We’re taking these gains one day at a time, but there’s no doubt it feels good while it lasts. Last night, we had a whole heap of family arrive, and she slept happily through all the to and fro. We’ll see how she does today, with all this stimulation…

On the playwriting front, I finished the second scene of a new play that I’m quite happy about. There’s no title yet (working title Taina and Marvin), but it’s focused on a particular kind of self-inflicted political heartbreak and that territory I always seem to revisit, the teacher-student relationship.

Technique never stands still: it only advances or retreats…

Writing: 146 out of 185 days (Taina and Marvin)
Spanish: 131 out of 185 days
Music: 52 out of 91 days

What small things did I do yesterday to help build the Honeycomb?
(And what does it mean to “Help build the honeycomb?”)

• Ate and cooked local, organic, vegetarian food, and used cloth diapers for Mercena;
• Wrote in support of elephant protections and ending the ivory trade.