The Sleep (or Lack Thereof) Post

Oh Sleep!  Alas I knew thee.  It has been so long since we have thoroughly enjoyed each other's company.  Once a couple so deeply in love, we are now almost strangers simply passing in the night.

If you can't guess, this mama is not getting a lot of sleep.  Before you have kids everyone warns you about giving up sleep, no more lazy Saturday mornings.  As much as you think you understand that having kids means less sleep, you really don't.  It isn't possible unless you are a former P.O.W.  I now understand why sleep deprivation is used as a means of torture.  I know why the caged bird sings--to simply keep me awake and drive me towards insanity.

At this point five years into the whole parenting thing, six if you count the nights of sleepless pregnancy, I have accepted that "sleeping in" means 8 AM.  I know that after a morning full of activity, there may be no down time in the afternoon.  The idea of leaving the house on the weekend after 9 pm is laughable.  I am in my pajamas most nights by 6:30 pm.

I am fine with all of this for the most part.  I really am.  What is not fine is being awoken by different cries in the middle of the night.  Eileen talks in her sleep.  She often has nightmares whenever she makes a developmental leap.  Additionally, she frequently loses her blankets in the middle of the night and calls for us to tuck her back in.  Just because we usually ignore the request doesn't mean she stops yelling or we stop hearing her yell.

Linus was a horrible nighttime sleeper as an infant (some of it was our fault but I also blame him having two teeth at two months).  When it got to the point where he woke every 30 to 50 minutes all night long, I started having trouble functioning and just cried a lot.  I read every sleep book.  I did the sleep logs, the activity logs.  Dr. Ferber proved to be the answer to our prayers and by 6 months, things were pretty good.  We learned from our mistakes with Linus and so Eileen was much easier.  Because she took naps in the pack n play in our closet, she was also a champ at sleeping at other people's houses or strange locations.  We made sure to put her down awake.  Eileen and Linus were on the same nap schedule so I was able to take a nap every afternoon.

Enter Robin.  We thought we had this.  Put the baby down and walk away.  Done.  If he awakens, just a quick check, pat on chest, walk away.  This time around I rarely get an afternoon nap.  If I do, it is only 20 minutes.  Putting Robin down for a nap is great.  Night is not.  Robin awakens at least 6 times a night, and up to 12 times.  We used a co-sleeper with both Eileen and Robin.  We tried moving Robin into our closet (it's a walk-in, we aren't barbarians!) and ran the bathroom fan.  It helped a little, other than the fact I now get to trudge across the room to feed him.  I consulted all my sleep books again.  I placed Dr. Ferber on my nightstand for quick reference.  Dave and I discussed a game plan.  We were going to sleep train Robin. 

Two weeks later I pronounce us failures.  After some initial improvement, he appears to be backsliding.  Dear God I just want three hours of uninterrupted sleep! Is that too much to ask?  Robin is at his worst between 1:30 and 4:30 AM.  Add in Eileen waking at least once, if not twice, and there is just a lot of waking going on and not nearly enough sleep.  In case you are wondering, the kids wake up between 6 and 6:30 AM. 

Dave helps, but as the night wears on, I start to feel guilty.  I try to let him sleep although usually I leave the trudging downstairs to Eileen for Dave.  I'm up to 2 cups of coffee and one chai every day.  I feel my mind starting to go and see my hair graying more rapidly.  I may need to start wearing make up to cover my face that now looks like death, haggard death.

Robin isn't eating solids yet.  I like to wait until 6 month.  Just as I was contemplating solids to see if it would help with sleep, Robin started getting eczema.  I don't want to introduce any new allergen factors until I can at least resolve some of the eczema or find its cause. 

So I persevere.  What else is there to do?  I just repeat my mantra.  It will get better. It will get better.

Robin is trying to give up nap #4 of the day.  Today he just couldn't stay awake and fell asleep in my arms.  I think he just wanted to rub it in.  It's a good thing he is cute.

lovey, binky, and mama's arms -- he doesn't understand what I'm complaining about, sleep is easy

From the Mouths of Babes in March

Linus:  Daddy this is no time for jokes!

Eileen:  I want a bunk bed with a bottom princess bunk and a princess blanket and princess sheets and a princess pillow.

Me: (trying to get Linus to help clean up the basement) I'll let you scrub the toilet.
Linus: Deal!!

Me: We had to move Robin into the closet for sleeping.
Eileen: Oh dear.

Linus:  I do not love the ground. (After tripping and falling on the sidewalk)

Eileen:  I just want to be naked and be a princess! (arguing against getting dressed for preschool)


The kids have been on a roll this month and endlessly entertaining.  Eileen has taken to wearing costumes at all times.  Usually a princess, bat, or some interesting combination--dragon/ninja/scuba diver anyone?  Robin is no longer phased by people in disguise.

Linus likes to play Calvin and Hobbes.  It isn't a stretch for him to be in character.  Calvin and Hobbes recently went on a sailing adventure.

The kids have been finding ways to work around my limiting their screen time. 

Not included in the video are Linus and Eileen "pressing A" to start the game.

A Little Out of My Element

In my former life, I was a successful middle school teacher.  Need someone to break down pre-algebra?  I'm your gal.   Not my area of expertise?  Early childhood education.  There is a reason I do not teach preschool or even early elementary.  When I substitute taught, I tried to never sub below third grade.  I like hanging out with little kids, but my mind does not necessarily function in a way that easily thinks of learning activities for young minds.  I hate doing craft projects and developing learning centers always seemed like so much work.

Excuse the humble brag -- but my kids are really smart and it is almost a little problematic.  I'm glad I am at home so I can help nurture their young minds.  Teaching enthusiastic little sponges is very different from sullen pre-teens.   My educational goal for my kids is to help them each reach their potential as well as foster a love of learning.  I really like teaching my kids, but I do not want to homeschool.  Sometimes on those days where everything seems almost idyllic,  I start to think that maybe I could do it and then I come to my senses.  Linus is an extrovert and needs an audience.  He and I would also kill each other.  Nor do I feel confident in my abilities to provide the social outlets necessary to create a well rounded child.

However, I do enjoy supplementing their learning. My kids each do learning activities each day as a part of earning their screen time.  Linus sometimes gets annoyed about earning screen time.  The other day I found myself saying to him,  "You know you are lucky.  Other people pay me to teach their kids.  You get me for free!"  Linus was not impressed.

The benefit to marrying someone who is the youngest of five kids is that you have access to in-laws who have been there.  I consider my sister-in-laws, Sarah and Jenna, to be two of my mom mentors.  So much of what I do when it comes to parenting comes from the advice and experience of these two.  My cousin, Casey, is another mom mentor.  These days I find myself needing to look outside my realm of expertise.    I do not think these women realize just how much I look to them.

Both Casey and Jenna homeschool and have been a great source for ideas, since like I said, preschool is not my forte.  I've really had to fall back some on my teacher training (I technically can teach as low as Kindergarten).  Since sometime after Christmas I have been teaching Linus to read.  I have never taught anyone to read before, but I'm really enjoying it.  I tried to use BOB books, but Linus would "cheat" and just look at the pictures to guess words.  After about two times through, he had the book memorized so the whole thing was a bust.  Instead I decided to try Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  It totally clicked.  Linus is very excited to be a reader.  Jenna recommended the Usborne Very First Reading Set.  I was able to get it for cheap on Ebay.  I like that the series incorporates paired reading and different comprehension strategies.  Besides having Linus read to us, Dave and I read chapter books to Linus.  We just started Prince Caspian by CS Lewis.

Teaching Linus to read in combination with daily workbook time has made Linus take off academically.  This is good and bad.  Good because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.  Bad because it makes me worry about finding the right school program for him.

Eileen is wasting no time trying to catch up to her big brother.  She loves doing workbooks and other learning activities.  Thank God for Pinterest! I'm not very active on Pinterest, but I am discovering it to a great source for activities.  From listening to me teach Linus to read and help him with his phonics workbook, she is picking up a surprising amount.  Yesterday I found Eileen sitting alone under a pile of books, quietly reading to herself.  She looked at me and announced, "I'm a reader. Just like Linus," and promptly went back to her books.

One of the things that I did not expect would be so hard to teach is how to hold a pencil.  Watching my kids learn and absorb information is fascinating.  Even though I do not want to homeschool, I definitely want to step it up a little and be more creative.  Maybe I will try to come up with a nature unit for this summer.

I'd love to hear fun ideas for preschool/kindergarten or any recommendations for books for early readers.  Like I said, teaching little people puts me a little out of my element.

In Like a Lion

March has not come in so much as a lion, as whipped through and left me feeling a little bit discombobulated.  Nothing bad really, just lots of happenings.

The kids are growing and changing.  Eileen just made some huge developmental leaps.  I know kids do that, but sometimes it is a little stunning to suddenly have a different child overnight.  Linus and Eileen are very busy.  It's amazing what happens when you summon the courage to simply turn off the television--the kids will play.

Last week I looked over from my giant morning cup of coffee to see Linus in explorer gear and Eileen readying a backpack.  They were going monster hunting, but not before making maps.  There was a very serious discussion about how to go about finding monsters, which types of monsters they might encounter, and what to do once they found them.

Our mornings never cease to be busy.
Secret agent

 Snacks and braids

 New leotard for dancing and just enjoying being a girl

And when the house is hit with the stomach flu, sometimes baby water monsters just need to snuggle their dad.

Cute babies decide being cute is more fun than taking naps.

Throw in cleaning house, lots of laundry, little sleep and a tutoring two nights, and woo! I am a busy busy mama.  I am excited for the lamb part of March.

5 Months

Another month and lots of changes. Robin is now 5 months old.

Robin loves the baby in the mirror.  He lights up whenever he sees him.  Robin also loves jumping, being outside, and hanging by his hands like a monkey.  He screeches when he is happy and full of energy.  It sounds like a cross between a hawk and a velociraptor.  Robin also has lots of giggles, especially when tickled, nuzzled, or when you say "a-goo" or do a fake sneeze.  He just started blowing raspberries this past week.

Robin is still a petite little man compared to his siblings as babies.  He wears mostly 3-6 months jammies and onesies (and a couple of large 0-3 month ones) and 0-3 month pants.  I think he will be solidly into the 3-6 month sizes soon.  Robin is taking after his siblings in the dental department and getting teeth early.  He is currently cutting two teeth.  This means lots and lots of soaking himself and others in drool.  It also means some painful nursing experiences while he figures it out.  Those suckers are serrated and sharp!

He constantly gnaws on his hands, although he finds mine rather satisfying too.

I made the mistake of looking up what babies should be able to do at 5 months.  It says babies should be "perfecting" rolling over. Uhhh. Robin is not even close to doing this so I am now making a more conscious effort to give him lots of floor time and ample time to practice.  Rolling over is the only milestone he is not meeting so I'm not too worried.

getting in a little tummy time

I started back tutoring at the beginning of February.  While it's great in a lot of ways, it means Robin now gets to take a bottle at least once a week.  He didn't mind it the first time, but has since voiced strong objections.

Being third child means he gets schlepped around instead of the schedule being around his needs.  He got to do his natural schedule this weekend and I was a little shocked to see where things landed.  Given his way, he would have three naps (that completely conflict with the preschool pick up and drop off schedule) instead of four.  His eating scheduling is moving towards one conducive to solid foods (haven't introduced yet).  He sleeps about 12 hours at night, but usually wakes up three times to eat.  I'm hopeful this will improve once he starts solids.  Mama needs more sleep.

Lest I forget.  Robin still adores his siblings.  They love playing with him when he is in the jumper.

It was a little weird at first to step back into the world of babies, but I really am loving it.  Nothing makes me happier than snuggling my baby.  Luckily, Robin seems to agree.

From the Mouths of Babes in February

(Eileen starts suddenly crying)
Me:  What's wrong?  I don't understand.  Why are you crying?
Eileen:  I. Don't. Know. (sob sob sob)

Eileen:  We're being ninjas.  I hate being vampires.  They are too wiggly.

Linus:  I saw a cat burglar.
Me: What? Where?
Linus:  Right here.  He just disappeared into the darkness.

Linus:  This is me nursing Robin.  (showing a friend a picture of him bottle feeding Robin)

Dave:  Can I read to you tonight?
Eileen: No! You read it the wrong way!

Some more pics.

"nursing" Robin

100 pieces and no help!

Gutter Ball

Another rainy weekend in Seattle.  Robin is getting older and we are all getting a little antsy with how little we seem to leave the house these days (compared to our former lives).  Dave planted the idea of bowling in Linus' head.  Linus bombarded me as soon as I came down the stairs Saturday morning. 

A quick Google search led us to our morning destination --West Seattle Bowl.  We managed to get everyone dressed, fed, with teeth brushed in under 45 minutes.  It's amazing how fast young ones can move when motivated.

I am no bowling pro by any stretch of the imagination.  However, I can proudly state I one time did manage to bowl a turkey (3 strikes in a row--boo yah!).  I dominate Dave at Wii bowling, but that isn't really saying much. 

ready for a little bowling with babies

There have apparently been some technological advances in the world of bowling with kids.  Gone are the days of tubes as bumpers.  I was kind of excited to bowl with bumpers, pad my score a little.  The guy at the counter entered our names for us and apparently that only the first two bowlers were kids.  When I went to bowl the first time,  the bumpers suddenly lifted up. Doh. 

This is maybe the only time he bowled this way.  His preferred method was more of a shot put throw.  He landed between the gutter and the bumper multiple times.

assuming the position

My first time up I bowled a strike.  Sadly, it was not an omen of good things to come.  I bowled my lowest score since grade school.  It was bad.  I barely beat Eileen.  Dave fared slightly better, Linus not so much.  After our first game we noticed another lane with young children had a crazy contraption that lets you line up the shot and give the ball some speed.  This was good because Eileen's ball was clocking a speed of 1.3 mi/hour.  I was a little nervous.  Competing against that contraption and the bumpers meant I was really going to have to up my game.

The contraption

We all played a little better.  The scores were spread about the same with Dave in the lead, myself, Eileen, and then poor Linus.  I assured Linus that he was still a better bowler than his Aunt Sally and that made him feel a little better.

Robin found bowling to be less than thrilling, but did enjoy all the white noise.

Despite an embarrassing amount of gutter balls, bowling was pretty fun.  Lots of high fives, celebratory dances, stylish shoes, and good family time.