18 posts tagged “sleep”

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Routine

Sometimes I get a little boxed in by my routines. For the most part things work out really well and by sticking to my routines as much as possible I can keep control over my days. I had been "dream feeding" Chewie at 10--feeding her in her sleep so that she would make it until the morning (7:30) and not have her sleep interrupted. Lately she's been waking up at 10. Which is no longer a dream feed and pretty indicative of a habitual waking. The last couple of nights I fed her only one side, something that would have caused a 3 or 4 am waking a few weeks ago. She took it and slept until 7:30. Or well, 7:20, but we're not going to quibble. Last night I decided not to go up there at all. She woke when Vader took SkyWalker and the Princess to the bathroom. I grumbled but didn't go up. She wasn't screaming or crying but really just fussing. She went back to sleep after just a few minutes. I was truly shocked when my alarm went off at 5:30 and I realized I hadn't been up yet. I knew this had become a habit waking but part of me was afraid to not feed her. Not that she would wake me up later, but just because she seems so similar to SkyWalker--born early and small, not the easiest pooping, looks just like him--that in the back of my head I thought "I don't want another baby to stop gaining weight." But she is not SkyWalker and she is still gaining weight. She now has some chunky thighs like her big sister. And she is a week away from cereal anyway. I decided I didn't need to wait until EXACTLY 6 months, so I'm doing it just one week early--on Thanksgiving so my mom can be there. My mother was there for the other 2 and now she can be there for Chewie's first cereal tasting as well. 


That was a long paragraph. 

I'm pretty flexible with my routines. If Chewie has only napped half an hour in the morning I have no problem letting her nap 3 hours and feeding her a little later. I really don't watch the clock unless she is right on cue and it just happens that way. When you have more than one kid you need some kind of structure though. When we're home we've fallen into a nice routine of me feeding my children all day. Seriously some days it feels like just that:

7:30 feed Chewie
8: feed the Princess breakfast
8:30/9 feed Chewie again so she'll last her nap (this is becoming unnecessary)
11: feed the Princess lunch
11:30 feed Chewie
1: feed Chewie (again, this is up in the air)
3:30: feed Chewie
5-6: make dinner
6:30/7: feed Chewie

I'm trying to keep Chewie from doing nothing but sitting in her high chair or carseat or swing so I need to plan the Princess's lunch before I feed Chewie. I need to have a handle on my day. Of course when we go somewhere it's all up in the air and she gets no tummy time and usually just takes a series of short naps and I feed her way too much trying to get her to just take one long one. 

The Princess has just started whining "Mommy" which in turn has woken Chewie up. It's only 6:20 and I'm ignoring it. I should probably shower while I can.

2 comments Tags: sleep, chewie, breastfeeding, routine, dream feed

Remarkable

I am up before the sun and all the children and dogs and husband are still sleeping and it is glorious. I was only tired for a few minutes and now I am awake and wondering why I couldn't drag my lazy butt out of bed for the last couple of weeks. We have had a rough patch-- Chewie has been eating like a fiend and SkyWalker spent a few days throwing up. And when you have 3 the odds of you being woken up in the middle of the night aren't 3 times as great it's a MILLION times as great. Throw in Scratchy the dog who likes to scratch his skin off or lick himself ad nauseum. Literally--he threw up this week too.


Yesterday was a remarkable day. 

We started with gymnastics in the morning in which the Princess wanted me to hold her the whole time and didn't warm up until half way through. It's always so embarrassing but I wonder if the moms with the kids who are doing stuff but just not what they are supposed to be doing are embarrassed too? Like if a kid is racing to jump on the trampoline instead of doing the bars like she's supposed to, is that Mom secretly thinking "if you're not going to do what you're told just do nothing like that little girl?" and I'm thinking "just do something instead of cling to me?" Perhaps we are all embarrassed of our children. Except the ones who do exactly what's asked of them. 

Anyway, we went to gymnastics and as expected Chewie only slept half an hour there. When we got home I was bursting, literally, to feed her, so I fed her at 10:45 instead of waiting until 11:30. The Princess and I had lunch and Chewie was clearly so tired that I put her down and she fell asleep at 12:30. I figured I was in for it since she would be waking up right when I have to get SkyWalker off the bus--provided she slept 2 hours which was no guarantee. The Princess went up at 1:30 and Chewie was still sleeping. Miraculous. The Princess fought her nap, getting up and playing with lotion and doing all sorts of things. I finally told her I didn't care if she slept but she had to stay in bed and have quiet time. I've been wondering what I'm going to do about quiet time for her if she starts giving up her nap and I think this is it. I'm going to make her have quiet time in her room when Chewie is sleeping. Real quiet time in her bed with just a book. Because guess what happened? She fell asleep around 2. Chewie was still sleeping which was simply amazing. I walked on the treadmill (I gave up couch to 5k. It just doesn't fit my life right now.) I got off the treadmill and both girls were sleeping and I didn't KNOW WHAT TO DO. It was crazy. I was so amazed that they were sleeping and I was alone that I kept checking the monitor and wasting time. I got some dishes done and Christmas presents wrapped. Chewie woke up right before I had to get SkyWalker off the bus but I couldn't get her. She never cried just woke up. And then put herself back to sleep! SkyWalker and I did his homework and the girls still slept. It was UNBELIEVABLE. I wasn't sure if I should wake Chewie since I did still need to feed her. She woke on her own at 3:30, as did the Princess--in a cheery mood, hugging her brother and acting like she hadn't seen him in weeks. 

It was truly remarkable. 

I have been up for an hour and the sun is still not up. This too is remarkable.

1 comment Tags: sleep, naps, gymnastics, chewie, skywalker, the princess

Balance/Juggling/Why I need to clone myself

Balance. People. The balance, she eludes me. I strive for it everyday and everyday it slips from my fingers. 


SkyWalker is loving school. He's disappointed that he doesn't have more homework (he is so getting beat up). He has been much better behaved at home. He still has his moments but for the most part school has been the answer to everything. He peed his pants 2 days in a row and yet he still wants to go to school and enjoys it. Vader brought cupcakes to the school yesterday morning and passed by his bus. He was able to see SkyWalker smiling and laughing and having a good time. It's such a relief. 

The girls and I are doing well alone. I've filled the Princess's mornings with playdates and storytime and gymnastics. Today was gymnastics. She did much better than her brother years ago, but she did not respond the way I thought she would... maybe she was just in a bad mood. She wanted me to hold her the whole time. Didn't want to do anything. Luckily she had randomly insisted on bringing her baby doll--something I usually don't allow--and I made the baby doll do stuff and then she warmed up a little and did a little jumping and swinging. I KNOW she would love it if she would follow directions. We're going back and hopefully she will be in a better mood next week. It didn't help that Chewie started crying after only a 30 min nap. 

Chewie is doing better at night. I still dream feed her at 10ish and she doesn't wake until 7 (or  6:40 depending on how loud the boys are). She goes to bed at 7:30ish and she doesn't wake for the dream feed so that's pretty good... I'm still getting up at 5(ish) so I look forward to giving up that dream feed. 

The problem now is naps--for both of them. We had such a good routine going for a couple of weeks. I put the Princess down at 1:30, asleep by 2, put Chewie down at 2:15, asleep by 2:30 and then I was good. I could run. It was all good. Now the Princess is fighting her naps. Chewie is all over the place, 45 min naps, getting overtired. By the time I get them both down I have an hour or LESS before SkyWalker gets off the bus. Which leads me to....

Balance.

I have not run in a while. I skipped last week because school messed things up, naps messed things up, and I just don't know when I can do it. I tried on Monday but I went to week 3 when I should have repeated week 2. I couldn't do it. I walked for 20 minutes and was proud that I did that. The whole time I was watching the clock so I wouldn't get too close to bus time. AND my left ankle hurts again. This sucks. SkyWalker is in school all day and I have LESS me time than before! 

I should be folding the clothes and cleaning the house for his party tomorrow, but I needed to just sit and blog. As I type the Princess has STILL not fallen asleep (despite gymnastics this morning) and Chewie has just woken up after 20 minutes and is crying. She's been not pooping for a couple of days and then getting cranky and then pooping a lot. Who does that sound like? I know it's normal for BF babies to go days without pooping but the other 2 never did, so this is new to me. 

Something has got to give. Either I spend less time with the girls in the morning and run while they are awake, or I give doing anything else during any nap time and just run, or I don't know. I think I need to take the next couple of weeks and work on getting a consistent routine and getting both girls to take good naps and THEN fit running/cleaning/me into it. Because I am way too stressed out each day trying to get them down for a nap. 

It is now 2 pm. In 44 minutes SkyWalker will be off the bus. Chewie is crying. I would bet that the Princess is not sleeping either. 

1 comment Tags: sleep, kindergarten, gymnastics, napping, chewie, skywalker, couch to 5k, the princess …

let me sum up

I *would* have finished the second week of Couch to 5k but my ankles are starting to hurt and I think I need new sneakers. It turned out good that I did not since I forgot to eat lunch and probably would have passed out.


I think I'm going to call it an early night. Here's my quick updates:

1) SkyWalker and Vader rode the bus together for bus safety day yesterday. The Princess and I watched them get on the bus. One of us cried and one of us comforted the other. I'm not telling who did what. SkyWalker was fine and seems to be okay with the fact that Vader will not be on the bus next week. He and his friend sat together on the bus coming back home. That is good. 

2) The Princess speaks and speaks and speaks. And yet still she whines. You'd think being able to communicate would cut down on the whining, but alas, it does not. I do think her molars are coming in though. She's doing okay with the potty training, but I need to find a way to get her to pee on a regular basis without it turning into a fight. She is a stubborn one. 

3) Chewie is doing really well. She really doesn't cry all that much anymore. No more screaming. She smiles a lot and seems so much happier. I moved her to the girls' room at bedtime now. I started on Monday and she has slept longer each night. Last night I gave her a bottle at 11 and she slept until 5:30. I've been giving her bottles to try to get her used to them. But she only takes 2 ounces, whether it's at 10 or 11. Tonight I'm going to skip it and see how she does. The girls do just fine in the same room and both SkyWalker and the Princess seem to be excited to have Chewie up there with them. I'm glad that I had the girls nap together from the first week. I think that helped a lot. I stopped swaddling Chewie since it didn't seem to be the miracle cure it was for the Princess. I just have her in a sleep sack and she's doing great. I kind of miss her at night, but she was in my room longer than the other two so it was really time. She turned 3 months yesterday. 

4) This is not as quick as I thought it would be. 

5) I ran two of the three couch to 5k days this week and I've already improved. I don't see myself ever running a race. I don't like to run in front of people. But I am enjoying the experience. It gives me the energy boost I need in the middle of the day and I am So proud of myself for sticking with it. I might have some scheduling problems once SkyWalker starts school--since the time I normally do it is nap time for the girls and that will be when he gets off the bus. And after being in school all day I don't think I can tell him to just wait for me to run... The Princess is better at entertaining herself so maybe I can actually attempt to do it while she is awake. Or try to get them down for early naps. I'll have to play around with our routines.

6) I need to hook my brain up to the internets so I can blog directly from it. I blog a lot in the shower. And then forget it when I see the screen...

2 comments Tags: exercise, sleep, kindergarten, chewie, potty training, skywalker, couch to 5k, the princess …

Home sweet home

We're all done traveling and I am glad to be sleeping in my own bed again. I will be even more glad when Chewie is sleeping in her own bed (her crib upstairs instead of the co-sleeper in our room). She had a couple of really good nights on LI and I think they were both because she was outside in the heat for the majority of the day! We have yet to replicate it. I'm getting really tired of, well, being tired. Being up twice a night is wearing on me. Particularly since I know the Princess was sleeping all night long by now... it's not fair to compare but that's what's in the back of my mind. 


We were on LI for our anniversary so we were able to go out by ourselves and have dinner and walk around Port Jeff. I had an Italian Ice. I don't know if any place up here has Italian Ices... in any event it was nice. Much better than last year when the kids and I went to dinner by ourselves. 

We're still not done with the cleanup from the Yellow Jacket Invasion of '09. My husband is going a little cooky with it. At this rate we will never be done. 

SkyWalker starts kindergarten in 3 weeks. I can't quite believe it. We're going to start getting him up earlier. His bus will come at 6:52. Isn't that crazy? He should be home by 2:45 though. I'm not sure if I want to try getting the Princess down for earlier naps or keep her on her current napping schedule. It might be nice for SkyWalker to have some alone time with me when he gets home. This is assuming the Princess naps. Actually she does okay as long as no one else wakes her up. 

The sun is still not up yet. I haven't gotten up this early in a week and I feel it... I think it was good to get a bit more sleep, but I definitely prefer getting up before everyone else and starting my day in peace. And then going to bed early. 

Shinesalot had her baby Tuesday morning and I realize once again how lucky we were that she was here when Chewie was born... I have been going crazy being so far away. 

On a related note there is a Clutch concert in NYC the day my SIL is due. Wouldn't it be lovely if we could be down there and see the concert and the baby in the same weekend? Would it be even more lovely if Chewie is sleeping the night by then?? Cross your fingers for me.

Post a comment Tags: sleep, traveling, anniversary, babies, shinesalot

Ramble On

It's funny, when your time is split into 2-3 hour chunks it goes amazingly fast. I close my eyes and it's a week later. We've been working really hard on our routine. And by we I mean me. Chewie has been on EASY (the baby whisperer) since I brought her home--I nursed her, changed her diaper to wake her up a little, and then put her down to sleep. Eat, Activity, Sleep. The Y is supposed to be You time, but with 2 older kids there is no You time. She's starting to be awake longer... and thus is now able to get overtired and then have to scream herself to sleep. Joy. In addition to the sudden and random blood curdling screams brought on by gas, she also enjoys crying in her sleep. I am so glad I got that video monitor because I would think that the Princess was sitting on top of her. Oh no. She's completely asleep. Crying. I do think she's been overtired and that I've been misreading her cues a bit and feeding her when she just needs to sleep. Ah well, tomorrow is a new day. She'll be a month old tomorrow and all things considered she's doing really well. I do remember with the Princess that I thought she would never go longer at night and settle into a routine, but she did her first 7 hour stretch at 7 weeks old, followed shortly thereafter by ALL night long. So I have hope. 


My routine has pretty much remained the same. I get up at 5:30 every morning. Pump, eat, check the internets, shower if I can, sometimes do laundry, and enjoy the quiet. Lately the quiet has been interrupted by either a crying Chewie or a wandering SkyWalker who says that 6:45 is "close enough" to 7. I hope to add some treadmill time in the morning as soon as Chewie is sleeping upstairs in her crib. It's one thing for me to leave her in the co-sleeper while I'm in the kitchen and the dogs are still sleeping in our room, but I don't want to go downstairs and be too far away (the co-sleeper is attached to our bed with one of the sides off so that I can "roll over," and pick her up to nurse her. But I discovered I can attach the 4th side while it's still attached to our bed so it functions as a bassinet. It's safer for me to leave the room.) 

It is almost my bedtime. It is also almost my birthday. My son thinks I need a bicycle for my birthday. 

I am fading fast right now so I leave you with this: I frequently tell SkyWalker that he needs to eat his meat and vegetables if he wants to grow big. Whenever he's eating or drinking something he'll ask if that will help him grow big. He really doesn't eat a lot of meat so I'm constantly telling  him that's what he needs. At bedtime tonight we were all in the girls' room and I was feeding Chewie, as usual, Vader was teaching the Princess how to do math on her fingers, and SkyWalker was sitting on the floor with me. He asked me what tomorrow is and I told him that Chewie was going to be 1 month old tomorrow. He asked if she was going to get bigger and I said that she was getting bigger everyday. And he said "from your breastmilk and meat. Your meat milk. Haha. The meat in your milk. Haha." 

1 comment Tags: sleep, chewie, breastfeeding, skywalker, routine

what time is it?

My children alternated crying last night. For the entire night. And when I mean entire night, I mean it. I think I slept for roughly 2 hours. I finally just turned the monitor off at 4 but since I already had a splitting headache it really didn't help. SkyWalker peed his bed 3 times. They both have runny noses. SkyWalker is not that bad... I have to decide now if I want to send him to preschool or not. I hate to see him miss so early on when he's still getting used to it. But I don't want anyone else getting sick. 


head. pain.

I have more cupcakes to make and bathrooms to clean and crap to do today and I have a feeling I am going to need to take a nap. 

And my daughter is covered in yogurt and cheerios. 

What a fine start to the day.

3 comments Tags: sick, sleep, skywalker, the princess

Wow

I've come back to work to two surprises. One I knew was coming but didn't really think I'd see it... a vending machine in the staff room. This will good. And bad. The second I also knew was coming but didn't think I'd see it so soon... the director is resigning. Crazy days at the library.

I know I'm pretty strict about our sleep schedule. I let the kids stay up for the wedding but that's it. No 4th of July or New Year's Eve. No staying up late because we're out at a friends or at dinner or something like that. Which is why it constantly amazes me when I see people bringing their little kids in at 8:30. Dude! And you wonder why your kids are having a tantrum now? Could it be that they are supposed to be in bed? Hmmm....

I called the doc today to schedule the deflux for the Princess. Hopefully we'll get a call with the date soon. Hopefully it will not be on a day I work or my boss will hate me forever. I think he does things on Tuesdays though, so it should be okay.

I cannot wait until I am just working one night a week. I may actually see my husband during the week! Woo-hoo!

I think my brain might be officially fried.

Post a comment Tags: sleep, working, reflux, deflux

It continues

I went to bed at 9:30 and was asleep before 10. 

At 10:30 SkyWalker woke me up crying. Took care of him, got back to sleep. 
At 12:30 the Princess woke me up crying. Gave her ibuprofen this time and that seemed to work better. Went back to sleep. 
At 2:30 SkyWalker woke me up crying, proceeded to SCREAM while in the bathroom saying he needed Mommy and gagging and making me think he was going to vomit. He finally calmed down. Went back to sleep
At 5:45 my alarm went off to take my morning temp. I went back to sleep, determined to let the kids sleep late.
At 7 SkyWalker woke up needing Mommy. He woke the Princess up. I took care of him, gave him tylenol to try to get him to go back to sleep. I fed the Princess, put her back down and she actually fell asleep at 7:30 and is still sleeping now (9 am). SkyWalker did not go back to sleep. He came downstairs and laid with me in my bed but he did not sleep. A couple of times he snuggled up to me but mostly he played with his flashlight. Then he got out of bed, went in my closet, took his clothes off and made a mess. At 8:30 the dogs couldn't stand it anymore and told me to get out of bed. 

Vader will probably be home tomorrow, I have no idea when, so I will have another night of this. Then I will have to work on Saturday. Then we have Easter on Sunday. Then Vader will go back to work on Monday. And I will never sleep again. 

I'm going to take them to the doctor today. I'm sure she has an ear infection and if it's interrupting her sleep now then it must be painful. I don't think there's anything I can do for SkyWalker unless he too has an ear infection. I think he just has a cold and has to tough it out, but he's being a big sissy instead. 

It is raining and gloomy and the poor dogs are sleeping on the kitchen floor instead of being a pain in the neck. Even they must be tired from last night's shenanigans. It would be a perfect day to stay in bed and read a book. Instead I will wipe snot and take temperatures and try to forget that I need someone to take care of me too. 

Post a comment Tags: sick, sleep

Day 3

Day 3 of no Daddy. I don't know how people do this all the time. Granted, their kids aren't sick all the time, and they probably don't have 2 dogs, but still. 


I have been trying to get my kids to sleep for an hour now. It started out okay--the Princess was asleep by 6:50 (her choice, not mine). At 7 she was screaming. I put SkyWalker down at 7:15, comforted the Princess and left. She cried off and on. At 7:40 I went up there and SkyWalker was peering into her room saying "Don't cry." He claimed his nose hurt and he needed saline solution. We took care of that, I went and fed the Princess as a last resort, and SkyWalker decided the tag in his diaper was bothering him so he took it off. There are no tags in diapers. I put the Princess down, put a pull up on SkyWalker and put him back in bed. The Princess continued to cry. I went downstairs and looked up ear infections and the proper dosage of tylenol. The Princess continued to cry. At 8, all was quiet. And then I heard "I pooped!". I walked up there and SkyWalker was sitting on the potty. (We leave his gate open now so he can go to the bathroom.) I took care of him and hoped the Princess would not wake up. At 8:10 I see the light is on in the bathroom again. He has the saline solution ... and the Princess's nose-snot-sucker and has it up his nose. I got his and said "You want me to suck the snot out of your nose?" and he said yes. So I did it. I just put him back in bed. It is now 8:20 and the Princess has just started crying again. There is nothing more I can do for her. I've fed her. Given her tylenol. Wiped her nose. She has a slight fever and has been pulling on her ear as well as the snot-nose, so I'm pretty sure we're headed to the doc tomorrow for an ear infection. 

Good frickin times. 

Tonight I was a sneaky chef and hid pureed sweet potatoes in the macaroni and tomato soup we had for dinner. SkyWalker ate it right up. So did I. I decided I'm going to trick myself with this stuff too! Ha! That'll teach me.

8:23 and SkyWalker has just walked in to the bathroom. The Princess is still crying. Good times man. Good times.

4 comments Tags: sick, sleep, sneaky chef