Thursday, June 26, 2008

Still Going (Day 6)

Dean took his nap on the floor in front of his door today, because I know he sleeps lighter during naptime. Poor kid was really tired when he woke up after 1 hour of sleep instead of 2 1/2..but hey, it was a nap.

Now we're back to crying at the door before going to sleep (for the night I hope). Then tomorrow, I will royally erase all that I have worked for as I travel to my mom's for the week. I, of course, will not back track on the bottle, but I do plan on having him sleep in a pack n' play. I guess that's not so very different because he can crawl out of it. The different part is doing all of this at grandma's house instead of the room he's used to. Poor kiddo. When I started the whole process I thought we'd just be crying it out, which would be over and done with by now.

Anyhow, I'm sure I will begin updating my support group again when I return.

Night Time Sleeper

Who has a kiddo sleeping through the night in a big boy bed? Anyone?

Oh! Oh! I do! I do!

Dean didn't wake until just before six. Now we just have to get through the crying when he goes to bed, which is managable if heart breaking. The really tough one was that first night where he was up most of the night crying. I honestly thought that it would be a few nights of that, but it was just the one.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Day 5

Well, the saga of course continues. Dean and I took apart his crib and placed a new door handle on the door in hopes of keeping him in his room a little easier. The new door handle is the regular old door knob that you have to twist to open. The handle we started with was just a lever. No matter, because Dean apparently can open both. The great thing is that the new one has a lock which I placed on the outside so we could lock him in to keep him from wandering in the middle of the night.

We have started bedtime and he's very upset about sleeping in the new bed. He's been at the door screaming for quite some time. I hate it. Though, I don't know how to make it any easier for him. It's just a part of growing up kiddo.

Nap: 1/2 minute to sleep (crib), climbed out when nap was finished.
8:00-35 minutes asleep in front of door, Lucas tried to move him to his bed and he awoke.
8:40- 10 minutes asleep in front of door again

I guess the question is, do you leave the kid where ever he falls asleep or do you move him to his own bed. Lucas wants him to be in bed so that if he awakens later, he'll just fall back asleep. I have no idea, so we'll go with that, though it may make for a very long night of waking the poor thing up every time we move him. Where is the "Do This, There's Only One Right Way" manual?

9:25- Lucas moved sleeping Dean to big boy bed, and Dean stayed asleep

Monkey in the Night

Well, because crying it out wasn't complicated enough...

Dean finally realized he can climb out of his crib last night. Thanks a lot little dude! Your timing in sleep issues is right on as usual. So, yeah, crying it out is probably not going to work so well when the little monkey can just get out of bed. I've known he can do it for quite some time, but he hadn't quite figured it out. I finally gave in and just put him down with a bottle so that I could figure something out today. Then I was wistfully hoping he'd wake up this morning not knowing that he could do it. You know? Forget during deep sleep or something. Fat chance, first thing this morning he was out.

Now onto sleep training part II. Sleeping without a bottle AND in the big boy bed.

In other related news...
nap: like maybe 2 minutes
8:00- Maybe 1/2 a minute
8:30- stupid dryer buzzed and woke him up causing him to climb out of the crib
9:00- dunno, ask the bottle
6:30- up for the day


Yeah, that's right Dean slept through the night 3 nights running! *fingers crossed* If that continues, sleeping in the big boy bed won't be as big of a battle, once he is asleep.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Sleeping Night 3

Well, we've made progress.

Dean's sleep
nap: 5 minutes to sleep
8:00- 5 minutes to sleep
4:30- 1 hour 15 minutes


Now I'm stuck, is there a time where you still have a tired kid and you just get up with him for the day?

Things I know about myself as a mother:

I would pat, rock, rub, sooth, etc to help him go back to sleep if it helped him.
I would bring him into my own bed.
Iwould be willing to learn how to do the splits if it helped him to get better sleep.

Things I'm grateful for:
Nothing will help Dean except to leave him alone. Everything else makes it harder for him to fall back asleep because he is tired but he wants to play. This is a good thing so that I don't end up with an 8 year old and all future children sleeping in my bed after the bedtime ritual of rocking, patting, soothing, rubbing, and doing the splits for each of them.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

A New Day a New Leaf?

We did change one thing today. We've decided to let him drink from a bottle while we change him into his pjs and read the stories to him. Then we will put him in his crib without the bottle. The bedtime bottle will be the last to go and will gradually get smaller until there isn't one. Tonight that worked very well. He cried for 10 minutes and went to sleep.

Today's Trial (amount of time to fall asleep)
Nap: 30 minutes
8:00- 10 minutes
5:00- Wake up for day

Way to go kiddo! That's 9 hours straight.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Sleeping Log

ok, so here it is..my log of Dean's terrible sleeping habits and my own reactions which I hesitate to make public, but must so that I can bear to get through the next few minutes of screaming kid. As many of you know, Dean has not consistently slept through the night since he was seven months old. Also, he was still taking a bottle to bed with him against many pediatrician's and dentist's sound advice. Then, once or twice a night, he was getting another bottle because he would wake up screaming and I REALLY needed sleep to get up and go to work. For a period of 6 months or so I was doing anything I could to get the poor dear back to sleep because of his multiple and horendous ear infections. He's had none since early March (knock on wood).


Here are some things I've learned about Dean. He is not a child that can be rocked, petted, or patted to sleep. Any interaction for him winds him up instead of down. In the past week or so, even the ever trusty bottle does not help him go back to sleep. He does well with consistency as most children do, and is thoroughly disrupted when daycare and homecare ideas are different.


After trying many different options for my poor boy, we're weaning him from the bottle. When I say weaning, I do not mean slow progression because again we have tried that and it didn't work for him. So, as though he is addicted to cigarettes, the poor boy has to go cold turkey. He only takes a bottle to go to sleep and drinks perfectly well from a sippy cup as it is. Today we started plan Cold Turkey.

Naptime: 40 minutes to sleep (not so bad)
8:00- 1 hour to sleep
10:30- 20 minutes to sleep
2:00- 20 minutes to sleep
2:40- 2 hours to sleep

Needless to say, we have one very tired family.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Joys of Water

Dean and I started a swimming class this past Monday. I don't have any pictures because I find it incredibly difficult to take a picture of Dean and I while we are in the water.
Dean loves to play in the water, but has a difficult time with the pool. No he is not afraid, but rather independent. He wants to be able to meander around by himself and play with the other kids. Unfortunately, one would have to be a pretty good swimmer to hang out independetly with other kiddos in 3 feet deep water when he's only 2 1/2 feet tall himself. He's great at kicking, splashing, and other skills we are learning. He's nervous about any part of his face being in the water, so he has yet to blow bubbles.
Some of you will think that swimming lessons for a 17 month old is a little ridiculous. I agree. We're taking the class because just as Dean wants to play with the other kids, this mommy needs other adults to hang out with. Also, we don't have access to a pool and I think it's important for him to have swimming as a part of his life early on.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Workin' Mama

I have found a job for the next school year. Though it wasn't at the same district as I wanted, it's not a bad deal. I will be teaching Kindergarten at a school a few miles from here. This is good, because I do enjoy Kindergarten and I've taught it a few times before.

Also, I have a new fancy phone with a camera and I-tunes and a bunch of other stuff I probably won't use. Yay me! Although it is cool to have an extra camera if I forget to grab mine for something.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Overdue

So if you have a year after your wedding to get thank you notes out to your guests, you have until Father's Day to post about Mother's Day right?

Lucas was wonderful and took me up to a redwood forest near our latest of homes. It was exciting to find snow there when it had been in the 100s here. Here are some pics of Dean's first snow and creek. He wasn't too sure about the snow until I taught him to throw snowballs at a stump. That worked wonderfully until his hands started to burn. We didn't have gloves poor fella. As for the creek, he just wanted to dive right in. He thought it was especially fun to put a stick in the water and pull it out to find it covered in moss. Double click the pics for a larger view.


Also, we gave Dean his first hair cut over this last weekend. It's getting warm and his curls were starting to droop. I know what you're thinking. "Were you really thinking he'd eat while you were giving him a cut." No, I wasn't. He ate, then I thought we might as well give him his cut while he was still tied down and I wouldn't have to clean him up twice. Worked nicely. He wasn't afraid or anything. I of course was sad to shave off his fun curls and give him a little boy haircut, but I think he's more comfortable.


If you're trying to call me, you might want to wait awhile. If you're waiting for a call from me, don't. The cell is officially dead as of 6:34 this evening. May it rest in peace. It died in the loving hands of my toddler as I tried to talk on the phone and tear my son away from the grill. I'll let you know when the new phone gets here.



Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Overweight

I went to the baby doc today and she chewed on me a little. Apparently I've gained two pounds too much. This has got to STOP! I am very carefully planning my new diet over the last of my bag of chips. What? If I finish them off now, I won't have to worry about them anymore.