That appropriately conveys the massive failure of last night's sleeping experience. Perhaps:
The Words, They Were Written Too Soon
or
Jinx, Jinx, Jinx!!
or
How Life Likes to Remind You That You Still Have No Idea How to Parent
or simply
Ha Ha Ha (The Sleep Gods Laugh)
All seemed well. Finn went to sleep without any crying after I lay down with him in bed for about 10 minutes. We were anticipating a night even better than the last. We've turned a corner, he doesn't need the paci, doesn't even miss it, hurrah, we are wonderful parents!! Ha.
It's 10:30 pm. I turned off my light a few minutes earlier, way too tired to comprehend the words of the book I am reading. Sooo ready for some sleep. Then, somehow, something woke up the sleeping beast. Who, upon awakening, apparently only remembers that he has a mother and not a father, because the mantra of "mommy, mommy, moooommmmeeeee" is chanted/cried over and over again and aired over the monitor. M. goes down to settle him down. But instead of quiet, I hear lots of crying and "Nooooo" over the monitor, so it's mommy to the rescue. But it's not that simple. Because Finn is tossing and turning, playing with the damn fire truck and Thomas the Tank Engine that he somehow conned us into letting him bring to bed. Asking for water, for a snack, to watch the movie Cars. At one point, he said to me, "Mommy, I need stuff." Hopefully you get the picture here - wide awake toddler doing his best to NOT settle down.
At different points in time, whoever was in Finn's room would get totally frustrated and leave, with the child still awake. We would huddle up in bed, until the next round of cries started over the monitor, and then it was the other parent's turn to enter the fray. I gave up for good at 12:30, turning off the monitor. But M. went back down one last time, and somehow had the patience to sit with Finn until he fell asleep. He believes that he got back to our bed at around 2:00 am.
Then, Finn was awake again at 6:00 am. I raced down to his room as soon as I heard the noise (monitor was back on) just to try and buy us more time and keep him from fully waking up. I managed to comfort him back to sleep for another 45 minutes or so. The bottom line is that no one, not even the cat, got more than 3 or 4 consecutive hours of sleep. It's going to be a fun day, eh?
M. and I are both feeling a bit guilty, because we definitely lost our tempers at different points. I was just so MAD! I had been so tired, so ready to drift off the sleep. And the crappiest part was that, even when I was back in bed and off duty, I COULDN'T fall asleep. All the fuss and frustration had completely erased my sleepiness. And my sleep is precious these days! M., I'm sure, was able to sleep solidly as soon as he got back to bed at 2:00 am, and probably during some of the little jags in between wake up calls. But not me. That is the beauty of pregnancy sleep. I can usually only count, depending on when my first wake up of the night is, on 3-5 hours of solid sleep. After the first pee trip of the night, I toss and turn from then on, stealing little snatches of sleep if I'm lucky. Lots of reasons for this, of course. Increased blood flow and congestion has screwed with my nose. Combine that with the super-dry, hot air in our chimney of a bedroom, and I'm guaranteed to have at least one crusty nostril when I wake up to pee. And then I fixate on it. Even if air flow is only blocked by about 20% in one nostril, it bugs me (usually it's more, of course). I feel like I can't take a deep breath, like I'm whistling. And because it's so dry, no amount of nose blowing really takes care of it. I can't even lie propped on my back to drain anything because lying on my back makes me REALLY uncomfortable unless I'm basically sitting up. The same thing happened with Finn, too - probably something about the way I carry my babies super high, I suppose - the position of my uterus must cut off some kind of vital blood supply while I'm even semi-reclined.
If I do manage to either ignore or fix the nose problem, I spend the rest of the night trying to manage hip pain. I'm getting to the point in pregnancy where, when I flip over to give the hip I'm lying on a break, it still continues to hurt. And no amount of "pillow between the legs" helps. And soon enough, the other hip starts hurting too. So I flip from side to side, trying to get comfortable, until it's time to pee again.
All these symptoms are held at bay until my first wake up, usually some time between 2:30 and 4:30 am, and I can get solid sleep before then. Which means last night, my best hours of sleep were completely interrupted by Finn's shenanigans, and I was left with only the crappy, tossy-turny hours. Which totally pissed me off, and I'm afraid it made me have some not so pleasant feelings toward my child. I wasn't very nice to him at various points, though I did try to maintain some level of patience.
The one silver lining is that Finn, while he asked for many things, never asked for his paci (though it was clear, from how often his fingers touched his teeth/mouth, that he was missing it). And while M. was ready to give Finn the paci at around 11:30 or so, I convinced him not to. So, while the night may have been mostly sleep-free, it was also completely paci free, for better or worse.
I don't really have any tricks or tactics up my sleeve to try to help tonight go more smoothly. I guess we'll just do what we've been doing, and hope that it gets better. And for sure, I'm not writing/talking about any successes - no need to shoot myself in the foot.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
The Big Binky Bye-Bye
Ok, we don't call it a binky in this house, we call it a paci, but the aliteration just wasn't there with paci.
M. and I have been talking about getting rid of the paci for a while now. Finn only uses it at night, and for naps on the weekends, but he's still quite dependent on it. He will ask for it when he's upset (though we don't give it to him), and occasionally try to sneak it out of his bedroom. With a new baby on the way that will be encouraged to use a paci at any old time (I'm all for a great nursing relationship, but have no desire to be a human pacifier), we are afraid Finn would start demanding to use it more often, or try to take the baby's paci. We just returned from a vacation (sleeping in a strange environment is not the time to take away a comfort mechanism), and we have about 4 weeks before the next huge upheaval (starting at a new daycare), so we decided to go cold turkey on the pacifier use this past Wednesday. No big lead up to it, no cutting off the tip and having Finn throw away the "broken" paci's, etc. We just told him he couldn't have it when he asked for it, and that was that.
So far, things have been going well (knock on wood). The first night, it took Finn an hour to fall asleep. He cried off and on, but when M. or I were in the room with him (we went in a couple of times to lie down with him), he was fine - just not very sleepy. He didn't have that "trigger" of sucking on the paci to tell him to be tired, so he was a little wired. He woke up early the next morning at 5:30, but M. got him back to sleep until we were ready to get him up for daycare. All in all, not a bad night of sleep for everyone.
Last night, night 2, it took only about 20 minutes to get Finn to fall asleep. M. had to go back in his room after I put him down, but the crying wasn't terrible. He slept all the way through the night, until 6:20 or so.
It's crazy how easy it has been, we have been dreading this for soooo long. Fingers are crossed and double crossed that things continue to go well. I have a feeling naptime this weekend will be a challenge!
M. and I have been talking about getting rid of the paci for a while now. Finn only uses it at night, and for naps on the weekends, but he's still quite dependent on it. He will ask for it when he's upset (though we don't give it to him), and occasionally try to sneak it out of his bedroom. With a new baby on the way that will be encouraged to use a paci at any old time (I'm all for a great nursing relationship, but have no desire to be a human pacifier), we are afraid Finn would start demanding to use it more often, or try to take the baby's paci. We just returned from a vacation (sleeping in a strange environment is not the time to take away a comfort mechanism), and we have about 4 weeks before the next huge upheaval (starting at a new daycare), so we decided to go cold turkey on the pacifier use this past Wednesday. No big lead up to it, no cutting off the tip and having Finn throw away the "broken" paci's, etc. We just told him he couldn't have it when he asked for it, and that was that.
So far, things have been going well (knock on wood). The first night, it took Finn an hour to fall asleep. He cried off and on, but when M. or I were in the room with him (we went in a couple of times to lie down with him), he was fine - just not very sleepy. He didn't have that "trigger" of sucking on the paci to tell him to be tired, so he was a little wired. He woke up early the next morning at 5:30, but M. got him back to sleep until we were ready to get him up for daycare. All in all, not a bad night of sleep for everyone.
Last night, night 2, it took only about 20 minutes to get Finn to fall asleep. M. had to go back in his room after I put him down, but the crying wasn't terrible. He slept all the way through the night, until 6:20 or so.
It's crazy how easy it has been, we have been dreading this for soooo long. Fingers are crossed and double crossed that things continue to go well. I have a feeling naptime this weekend will be a challenge!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
A Bare Bones Update
Oh, where to begin? Lots of goings on lately, but I haven't been good about blogging about them. Most probably would have bored you, anyway. I mean, I could have droned on and on and on about our search for a new daycare, our angst-ridden decision-making process over whether to move Finn to the new daycare permanently or just temporarily... snore, right? Or I could have described, in excrutiating detail, the small steps we've been taking to get ready for the baby (crib set up, closet shelves installed, nightlight purchased and delivered, etc). But you are spared, tasks are completed, and my mind has moved on. Except I will briefly say that we DID find Finn a new daycare that we like a lot, and we have decided to move him there permanently. Boring, angst-ridden posts about breaking up with his current daycare and his first day at the new school (March 2nd) will follow, I'm sure.
We just returned from a trip to Wisconsin, an extended weekend with M.'s side of the family. We hadn't seen them since last Christmas. It's hard living so far away from them, because we really want Finn to be close to his cousins and the rest of the family. So, we braved the cold weather to make a trip before we are rendered (temporarily?) immobile by the birth of the baby. Finn was immediately comfortable playing with his cousins Ty (age 7) and Bo(age 4). Despite the age difference, they all seemed to enjoy playing with each other. Finn was a little slower to warm to the adults, and even by the time we left, he was refusing to give good bye hugs. But overall, much fun was had (lots of good food, Wii playing, hockey watching, and general good humor), and nobody lost any digits from frost bite.
We returned from highs of 3 degrees F to a surprise winter storm (well, a surprise for us, at least) here in Maryland. Just when I needed a full day at the office to slog through my crowded inbox, my work was shut down at 1pm so that crews could clear the roads and parking lots. Of ONE INCH of snow. Puh-lease. My Massachusetts upbringing is totally scoffing. The roads were barely wet. Still, I had to go hang out at a Panera (free Wi-Fi!) for an hour and a half with my laptop just to give Finn a chance to finish his nap at school before we went home. Poor kid is so behind on sleep from our trip, there was no way I was going to interrupt another nap. Then, thanks to his Cars movie obsession, I was able to fit in a oouple more hours of work while Finn was parked in front of the TV (bad mommy!).
The snow did start up again early this evening, and has already turned to a sleet/freezing rain/hail/wet snow mix. I'm sure tomorrow morning the roads will be VERY icy, but I'm betting that the post will have weather closing regret from yesterday, and they will make us all come in to work at the normal time. So silly.
I have many more ideas for blog posts - they seem to come to me at 3:30 in the morning, when I wake up to pee and can't fall back to sleep (stupid aching hips!). Hopefully I will get better about the execution phase, eh? Maybe then I can move beyond the blog posts that read like a dear diary accounting of what we've been up to, and get in some more quality ramblings.
We just returned from a trip to Wisconsin, an extended weekend with M.'s side of the family. We hadn't seen them since last Christmas. It's hard living so far away from them, because we really want Finn to be close to his cousins and the rest of the family. So, we braved the cold weather to make a trip before we are rendered (temporarily?) immobile by the birth of the baby. Finn was immediately comfortable playing with his cousins Ty (age 7) and Bo(age 4). Despite the age difference, they all seemed to enjoy playing with each other. Finn was a little slower to warm to the adults, and even by the time we left, he was refusing to give good bye hugs. But overall, much fun was had (lots of good food, Wii playing, hockey watching, and general good humor), and nobody lost any digits from frost bite.
We returned from highs of 3 degrees F to a surprise winter storm (well, a surprise for us, at least) here in Maryland. Just when I needed a full day at the office to slog through my crowded inbox, my work was shut down at 1pm so that crews could clear the roads and parking lots. Of ONE INCH of snow. Puh-lease. My Massachusetts upbringing is totally scoffing. The roads were barely wet. Still, I had to go hang out at a Panera (free Wi-Fi!) for an hour and a half with my laptop just to give Finn a chance to finish his nap at school before we went home. Poor kid is so behind on sleep from our trip, there was no way I was going to interrupt another nap. Then, thanks to his Cars movie obsession, I was able to fit in a oouple more hours of work while Finn was parked in front of the TV (bad mommy!).
The snow did start up again early this evening, and has already turned to a sleet/freezing rain/hail/wet snow mix. I'm sure tomorrow morning the roads will be VERY icy, but I'm betting that the post will have weather closing regret from yesterday, and they will make us all come in to work at the normal time. So silly.
I have many more ideas for blog posts - they seem to come to me at 3:30 in the morning, when I wake up to pee and can't fall back to sleep (stupid aching hips!). Hopefully I will get better about the execution phase, eh? Maybe then I can move beyond the blog posts that read like a dear diary accounting of what we've been up to, and get in some more quality ramblings.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
We Have...
Poop. In the potty. And I don't quite know what to do with it.
So strange, because on Thursday night, I actually dreamed that Finn pooped in the potty. I don't know why - we haven't been pushing the potty training much at all (you may remember from a previous post a few months ago that I am reluctant to give up diapers just yet). It was not a topic that has been weighing heavily on my mind. But I had the dream - I even told Outnumbered Gal about it at work on Friday.
Finn has been regularly peeing in the potty a couple times a day for a few weeks now - usually when his diaper is changed at daycare, and then at night before bed. But we've never entered #2 territory - that has been deposited solely in his diaper. Last night, I plopped a somewhat resistant Finn on the toilet before bedtime, expecting the usual liquid issuance. He said something about poopy, but I just nodded and said "Mm hmm," because he has been known to mix up poopy and pee-pee - lots of instances of "I pooped," then finding that there's only pee in his diaper. Plus, as I mentioned, he had never pooped on the toilet before. But to my surprise, there was suddenly poop. And then some more. And then, as he made me read him a book (twice), there was even more. I was a bit flabbergasted and at a loss as to how to handle it. I mean, I pictured this as a momentous occasion, one that would require all kinds of celebration and treats in order to show Finn that THIS was GOOD, that we ENCOURAGE this.
But it was just before bed, and I was home alone (M. is out of town). I couldn't ply him with treats and rewards, or shout and dance around the house - it was bedtime, after all. When one is going it alone at bedtime, the last thing you want to do is get your child all riled up before turning out the lights.
So I did the best I could, oohing and ahhing and telling Finn how proud of him I was. I'm not holding my breath that we'll get a repeat performance any time soon, of course, as I think it was complete chance (or perhaps the THREE helpings of baked beans he had at dinner Wednesday night) that caused this. But it's a start!
One for the (mythical, as yet unstarted) baby book? Do I mark it down: First Poopy on the Potty - January 9, 2009??
Another question: How exactly doth one properly clean up a child that has just pooped on the potty? I'm going to start keeping a container of wipes near the toilet (regular TP just does not get the job done), but this kid has some super strong butt clenching muscles. I'm basically forced to gingerly pick him up under his arms, holding his body as far away from mine as possible, and rush him to his changing table so I can do a thorough cleaning job. Not exactly convenient, you know? Is it better to help them clean up while they are still sitting on the potty? Also, if I have trouble getting Finn clean, how on earth can I expect him to ever do the job himself?? Good lord, I'll be wiping his hiney for years at this rate.
PS - sorry for the non-parents about such a poop-heavy post!
So strange, because on Thursday night, I actually dreamed that Finn pooped in the potty. I don't know why - we haven't been pushing the potty training much at all (you may remember from a previous post a few months ago that I am reluctant to give up diapers just yet). It was not a topic that has been weighing heavily on my mind. But I had the dream - I even told Outnumbered Gal about it at work on Friday.
Finn has been regularly peeing in the potty a couple times a day for a few weeks now - usually when his diaper is changed at daycare, and then at night before bed. But we've never entered #2 territory - that has been deposited solely in his diaper. Last night, I plopped a somewhat resistant Finn on the toilet before bedtime, expecting the usual liquid issuance. He said something about poopy, but I just nodded and said "Mm hmm," because he has been known to mix up poopy and pee-pee - lots of instances of "I pooped," then finding that there's only pee in his diaper. Plus, as I mentioned, he had never pooped on the toilet before. But to my surprise, there was suddenly poop. And then some more. And then, as he made me read him a book (twice), there was even more. I was a bit flabbergasted and at a loss as to how to handle it. I mean, I pictured this as a momentous occasion, one that would require all kinds of celebration and treats in order to show Finn that THIS was GOOD, that we ENCOURAGE this.
But it was just before bed, and I was home alone (M. is out of town). I couldn't ply him with treats and rewards, or shout and dance around the house - it was bedtime, after all. When one is going it alone at bedtime, the last thing you want to do is get your child all riled up before turning out the lights.
So I did the best I could, oohing and ahhing and telling Finn how proud of him I was. I'm not holding my breath that we'll get a repeat performance any time soon, of course, as I think it was complete chance (or perhaps the THREE helpings of baked beans he had at dinner Wednesday night) that caused this. But it's a start!
One for the (mythical, as yet unstarted) baby book? Do I mark it down: First Poopy on the Potty - January 9, 2009??
Another question: How exactly doth one properly clean up a child that has just pooped on the potty? I'm going to start keeping a container of wipes near the toilet (regular TP just does not get the job done), but this kid has some super strong butt clenching muscles. I'm basically forced to gingerly pick him up under his arms, holding his body as far away from mine as possible, and rush him to his changing table so I can do a thorough cleaning job. Not exactly convenient, you know? Is it better to help them clean up while they are still sitting on the potty? Also, if I have trouble getting Finn clean, how on earth can I expect him to ever do the job himself?? Good lord, I'll be wiping his hiney for years at this rate.
PS - sorry for the non-parents about such a poop-heavy post!
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