Sleeptime continues to offer a little high drama. I'm working hard on the routine stuff. At this point night time sleep rituals consist of getting into our pj's, brushing our teeth, picking out a book, going to mommy's bed with bottle and book in hand, carefully and obsessively closing all doors and drawers and window blinds and whatnot, (this is Liana's obsession, not mine), reading the book, helping mommy turn off the light, drinking bottle (yeah, I know that bottle in bed is almost considered child abuse in this country, but Liana has been going to be with a bottle since birth, and given our sleep drama, I'm not going to fight that battle now), and then we wait. Sometimes, the wonderful times, she is asleep after 15 minutes of cuddling. Normally more like 45 minutes. Sometimes two hours.

Really.

Oh. And I cannot leave the room. If I get up, she screams wildly.

I know that most of us, myself included, were left in our cribs to cry it out. Liana never slept in a crib, which futher complicates stuff. She slept with her foster mom, and now she sleeps with me. Some day, I hope, she will sleep in her wonderful toddler bed. With adopted kids, there is a whole school of thought about the cry-it-out method. Basically, a child who feels as if she has been abandoned, first by her birth mom, then by her foster mom, is in fear of being abandoned again. Therefore, it is important to make the child feel safe. Leaving her screaming in bed will make her feel that she has been abandoned again.

**Sigh**

Bathtime, however, has greatly improved. Here is proof of the little princess waiting for bathtime.