Sleep, the Elusive Mistress

I have lamented before about Ryan's sleep issues. They come and go, as phases are know to do, but we are now in the midst of another level of trouble. Summertime in the NW means that it does not get dark outside until after 9:30. This means all neighborhood children are still galavanting freely in the street, screaming and playing with all their might. You can't blame them, but when you tell a 2-year old that it's time for bed around 8:30, you are met with some mighty resistance. We have given up on early bedtimes for now. I haven't been working since late May, so we usually don't need to be up early in the morning. Today, we both slept until 9:30. (more on my troubles later).

We begin the bedtime process for Ry just before 8 PM, with a bath and teeth brushing. Then we move to the couch for a book or two, then into the bedroom for 2 more books, and talking about our day. Singing seems to be out for now, I'm okay with it. The problem comes when the parental unit attempts to detach from our leech of a boy and exit his bedroom. Ryan wants us to lay down with him (double bed, so totally happens). Last night, this was at 9:15. He screamed and cried about "Mommy holding his hand so he won't be scared" until after 10:15. Last night we let him go on, with check ups at 5, 10, and 15 minute increments to hopefully wear him down. It's really wearing us down. It's horribly unnerving to know that your child is scared of some unknown. I have told him that we are just down the hall, and that I will look in on him before I go to bed, all to no avail. Jeff gave in last night and retired with Ryan at 10:15. I stayed up until 11, then went to tug on his foot to signal that he could escape to our bedroom. The poor guy (Jeff) is getting up at 5AM to make the ferry commute and bank some time up for when Nugget gets here, and doesn't need to be fighting this sleep battle with the Boy. I don't have the energy either. So we are back to no adult alone time. :( How will we fit a newborn into this crazy dance? EEK.

Now my troubles. Temperature regulation, itching feet and hands (yes, I moisturize several times a night), bladder emptying, and a fetus who just loves to grind her head into my pelvic floor are just a sampling of the joys that I am currently experiencing. These are all pregnancy related and I have to wonder if it will be easier to deal with the baby than deal with all of this stuff! I will find out in 6 weeks.

I was WIDE awake from 3-6 AM today. I got up at 3 for Ryan's crying fit and lay with him for about 30 minutes. Then I was hungry, so I had Breakfast #1. Then I went back to my own bed and lay there. When I was finally dozing at 5, Jeff's alarm clock went off. So I got up again and made his lunch, and lay back down. Ryan called me in at 8 AM for a snuggle and we fell asleep together until 9:30.

What do you do for insane toddler sleep issues?

Time Machine

Dear Ryan,

Please crawl your cute little butt into a time machine and go back about one week! Last week, you couldn't crawl or get into things. You went to bed without a fight. I WANT THAT BABY BACK!!

Last night, you would not go to bed willingly. Ever time I went into your room you were sitting in the corner of your bed, looking like the saddest baby gorilla at the zoo, crying your eyes out.
You woke up at 9:15, 10:15, 11:15, and 12:15. Then I put you in the swing, and you slept until 2:15. Then I brought you to bed with me, where you slept until 5:15. Then we kicked Daddy out for work and slept until 8.

I was just reading a lament from Sundry about pre-child life. I have to admit that I was having the same thoughts this morning.

Mommy's tired honey, can I have a break? I love you endlessly, however, I'm getting too tired to be nice anymore.

(As I write this, he has entered the 2nd hour of nap in the swing, but I've had to deal with my "working job" crisies and cleaning the kitchen--which does not constitute a break)

Thank you,
Love,
Your Momma

RJ's Four Month Milestones

Mr. Big Boy is 4 months old!! In the last week, he has grabbed at a toy and rolled over from belly to back. At his checkup today, he got 3 shots, weighed 12 lbs 5 oz, and was 22 inches tall. He is finally on the charts for weight, but fell off for length. I told the Dr. to look at what he's coming from, CJ and I are not exactly giants! 

Now we begin the battle of transitioning the boy to sleeping in his crib. I just ended a half hour of screaming by moving the swing into his room and putting him in it for a nap. I thought shots were supposed to make them tired? He is currently swinging away and gnawing on his best friend Soft Bunny with eyes wide open. Occasional coos tell me it ain't going to happen..gotta run, he just crapped himself with one of the loud kind. Sure to be a fun clean up!

Milestones

Today is a big day for RJ. He is 3 months old! He also passed another milestone last night. He slept from 11:30 to 7 AM!! The batteries ran down on the swing at 6:15 (I was half listening from 5AM on) but he managed to stay asleep. I believe that if he hadn't pooped his pants at 7, he would have continued to sleep even longer. We had 7 1/2 hours of sleeping bliss.
RJ has a newfound skill, partial control of the "crazy" arms. He rubbed his eyes yesterday to tell me he was sleepy and has started making the ASL sign for ice cream. Everyone in our family LOVES ice cream, but this is not what he means. He is attempting to suck his thumb. However, he has not yet discovered that his thumb is opposable. He can't extend it to latch on. So, he just licks and gums his fist for now. I don't know if he is producing more saliva in preparation for teething, or if this licking/gumming action is just bringing it out of his mouth more, but the boy is getting a little drooly.

Inchworm

Inchworm is the name I have for the moves my baby does when he is laying on my chest. Even when swaddled, he manages to use his head with limited assistance from the legs to "inch" his way up my neck to my gobbler. Those of you that know me well know that I do not tolerate ANY one or thing touching my gobbler. I have a sensitive gag reflex and it is activated often by the inchworm. Why do babies do this? I place him in a nice protective cove created by my cleavage, but he feels the need to migrate north every time!

On a related note, this morning was the first time I have been truly upset with the actions of my child. He has become more difficult at night again. I moved him to several different locations with different positions and sounds in an attempt to get him to sleep. We settled on the swing, lights on, fish rotating, and hairdryer blasting at midnight. (it sounds like a game of Clue).  I managed to turn off the hairdryer and lights before retiring myself. This bliss lasted until 4:30 AM. At which time, he woke up hungry and angry. After feeding and changing and rocking him back to sleep, I placed RJ in the crib. This lasted precisely ONE HOUR.  I then kicked CJ out of bed and asked him to help calm the baby down. This worked for ONE MORE HOUR. Then CJ was leaving for work, so I asked if he would bring the boy into bed with me. I gave him more milk and we went back to sleep for ONE MORE HOUR. This process repeated itself until 10:30 AM when I gave in and said, let's get up then. 

What happened to our lovely 6 hours of sleep, followed by a 4 hour nap? I miss that baby. :( I hope he comes back before our company arrives this weekend. 

Now the little bugger is having a loud grunty nap in his co-sleeper. 20 minutes and counting......  

Sleep habits-step forward and back

We have a problem. My boy does not want to sleep in his crib. Nevermind that it was the most expensive baby thing we purchased! Last night, we had a minor breakthough. Although RJ did NOT sleep through the night, as he has been doing in his swing, he DID manage to sock out 3 whole hours in the crib. He slept all day yesterday, so he was wide awake at 10 when Mom and Dad decided they had enough and stuck him in the swing. He awoke at 2, and I fed him. He fell asleep during his late night snack, so I took the risk of placing him in the crib. I swaddled for maximum warmth, and it paid off!! At 5 he was hungry again, but barely ate before nodding off. I moved him into our bed b/c I was too tired to sit up.

Now he is back in the crib on a nap marathon that started in the car, continued in the stroller at the mall, back in the car, and into the crib. He has been in the crib for 30 minutes so far-so good. This pic was just taken!

We're having house guests in just over 2 weeks, so I need him to pick a spot and stick to it! There will be 2 other babies here and they won't be wanting to play musical babies at all hours. One of our visitors will be on eastern time, which should prove interesting too.