Successful Week

Well, it's hard to believe, but it's only been a week since I started putting Roanen to bed the new way, and it seems to have been successful. Friday night he slept 5 hours 40 minutes, woke up for 10 minutes, then slept for another 2 1/2 hours. He ended up waking up at 10 to 6, so instead of fighting with him and risking him just crying until it was time to get up I brought him into our bed and just let him snuggle and sleep for an hour. Last night he only got up once (!!) and was only up for 4 minutes. He's still going to bed after 8:30 most nights, which I'm not happy about, but that's usually because his afternoon naps are very erratic and often late. He's been waking up around the same time in the morning, and I put him down for his morning nap at 10, which he's been going along with pretty well. Overall I think the change from a week ago is amazing. He's officially weaned, and after a couple of sore boob days, this morning I'm significantly less full so I think I've just about lost my milk. Haha the puppies are just mine again! I have to say thank God for single beds and the Baby Whisperer.
Josey has also been sleeping through with no problems the past few nights, so I've actually been able to get decent sleep while I have this cold. His behaviour during the day is less than satisfactory though, and he's really not listening and getting a lot of time-outs. For some reason it's usually ok while it's just me at home with him, but as soon as Russ gets home he starts acting out. He gets a ton of attention from and playtime with Russ, so I'm not sure why he's being like this. Maybe it's just another phase that he'll grow out of in a couple of weeks.

Slept Through The Night - According To Someone, Anyway

Roanen's night started off poorly, with a nasty cough that wasn't helped by any medicine, and he was pulling at his ears. I gave him some Tempra and he finally calmed down and slept for 2 hours and 40 minutes, then woke up and fussed and freaked for just over an hour. When he finally went back to sleep at midnight I figured he would be up within an hour, but he ended up sleeping right through until 6:45! Of course I immediately assumed we had accidentally overdosed him and he was dead, but luckily enough that wasn't the case. It's a good sign that he's sleeping better even when he's sick. He really has made a ton of progress since we've moved, and I'm glad that something is finally working.

It's Just Because He's Sick - Really!

Quick summary of last night:
Took 15 minutes to fall asleep at 8:20, woke up at 10:38 and 1:04 taking less than 8 minutes to go back to sleep each time, then woke at 3:57 and was up for an hour. He would lie down and close his eyes, then suddenly sit up just when I thought he was really asleep. When he finally did go down, he slept just under 2 hours. So not a great night, but the cough medicine I gave him before bed didn't work and he was stuffed up and hacking all night, so I blame that. I don't have any other kind of medicine to try him on tonight so I expect it to be just as rough. Josey also got up 3 times in the night, which is getting annoying considering there's a possibility that Roanen may start sleeping through soon.

Even Better!

Yesterday I put Roanen down for a nap using the new technique, and he slept for almost 2 hours! I was a little nervous about how this sleep training would go after reading an article in Today's Parent about wakeful kids for whom sleep training just doesn't work. I was particularly bothered by the story of a woman whose baby was finally night weaned, but still woke up regularly needed his mom to come in and pat his back to help him back to sleep. I decided that this was the trick Roanen was going to pull on me - "haha you took away the boob so I'm going to take away your sleep!". Last night I tried putting him down early-ish, around 7:15, and he was restless, falling asleep once then waking up 3 minutes later. He finally fell asleep for good at 7:50, then slept until 11:05. It took me 8 minutes to get him back down, then he slept until 4:45! Of course throughout this whole thing Russ came to bed, waking me up, then Josey woke up calling me, then Josey woke up again crying and calling Russ, then came into our bed and talked and bugged for 20 minutes. But Roanen slept! Anyway, that last time Roanen woke up he was really upset and couldn't fall asleep, and it took be a good 45 minutes to realize that he had a poopy diaper so I had to turn on the light and wake him up more by changing him. He finally fell back to sleep just after 6 and slept for about another 40 minutes. He was in a pretty good mood when he woke up though, so he must have gotten enough sleep. Hopes are still high!
Oh, and here's the link to a video of Roanen walking:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individuals&videoid=1989479960
Enjoy!

Roanen's Checkup

Roanen had his one year doctor's appointment yesterday, complete with shots. He was pretty good with it all, except when the receptionist tried to get his height. He had a freakout fit and wouldn't stay on his back or straighten his leg so we guesstimated. He weighs 22.5 lbs now, which I was surprised at considering the amount of food the kid shovels in. Maybe the walking is burning off more calories. Oh, and the crying probably does too, although that's slowing down a little. We were a little concerned about one of his eyes being lazy sometimes, but the doctor checked his focussing straight ahead and said everything looked to be aligned and that we shouldn't worry, but to keep an eye out for any more problems. He got two shots in his arm, one for the Prevnar (I think - I should probably pay attention more...) and one for the MMR. He did remarkably well getting the MMR since it apparently hurts like hell and even the doctor was surprised at his reaction, which was about 5 seconds of halfhearted crying before being distracted by the garbage can opening. I suppose he can't have extreme reactions to everything, right?

First Prenatal Appointment - Originally typed Feb.21st, 2007

Yesterday when Roanen had his doctor's appointment I had a prenatal appointment too. It went well, aside from the fact that I hate the routine of having to pee in a cup every single time I go in, and it's even more difficult with the boys. Fortunately there was no one in the office and I was able to distract them with the toys and quickly run to the bathroom so they wouldn't be in there touching stuff while I took aim. The doctor agrees with me that I'm more pregnant than the ultrasound suggested based on how high my uterus has grown, but says we really won't know for sure until my 18 week ultrasound. I may be getting a 13 week ultrasound to do the maternal serum screening, but he really didn't think it was necessary for a "young woman who has babies regularly" (oh my god, is that what I am? He laughed when he said it...) since I'm so low risk and it tends to cause anxiety. We'll see. He seemed to have forgotten by the end of the appointment, and I may miss the window to do it, so if it happens, it happens. Other than that all seems well and I'll be getting the usual bloodwork, regular doctor's appointments, etc. Back into the pregnancy routine. Groan.

Success - In My Eyes, Anyway...

Last night, after spending most of the previous night in Roanen's bed, I decided that I was thoroughly sick of nursing him at night. On Saturday night he stayed at Grammie and Grampa's, and although he was wakeful and restless he survived without nursing, and best of all I didn't have to pump because it seems like I'm losing my milk so I wasn't painfully full. So I read up on the Baby Whisperer book, braced myself for a sleepless night, and went ahead with the plan to not nurse him at all through the night, no matter how upset he got. My first mistake was not putting him to bed early enough, so he was overtired when I finally brought him upstairs. Instead of lying down with him and pretending to sleep so he would fall asleep, I just sat beside him with the light off (and nightlight on) and kept lying him down. He got really upset and just wanted to be held, so when he got really hysterical I would hug him and let him put his head down until he settled down and got quiet again, then I would lay him down again (acceptable by the Baby Whisperer apparently). It took from 8:05 to 8:45 for him to fall asleep, then I got ready for bed because I figured I would need the extra sleep. As soon as I got into bed at 9:18 he started fussing. He chugged half a cup of water, then I did what I had done at bedtime and he fell back to sleep after 12 minutes (amazing, since I expected him to scream for at least an hour every time he woke up). The rest of the night proceeded like this, with me putting him back down the same each time:

• Wake at 11:14 (1 hr 45 minute sleep stretch - Russ had a shower and it woke him up)
• 13 minutes to get back to sleep, asleep at 11:27
• Wake at 1:56 (2 hr 29 minute sleep stretch)
• 13 minutes to get back to sleep, asleep at 2:09
• Wake at 3:43 (1 hr 34 minute sleep stretch)
• 8 minutes to get back to sleep, asleep at 3:51
• Wake at 6:50 for good, in a very happy mood (2 hr 59 minute sleep stretch)

He slept for a total of 9 hours and 19 minutes and was only awake a total of 46 minutes over the course of the night. I understand that this really doesn't look very good, but this is the child that has never gone a night at home without being nursed. I also heard him wake up a couple of times and put himself back to sleep, which he has never done before either. There finally seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, although he adapts very well to things right away, then everything falls apart usually. I'm determined to not let him nurse through the night anymore, and I expect that he will be completely weaned within a week (boobs allowing). We'll see how he does tonight after getting his one year shots today (boo). I have hope again though!

Le New Pregnancy - Original Date Feb. 16, 2007

Since we're not telling anyone yet about the pregnancy, yet I still have lots to vent about, I got the brilliant idea to type this all up, save it in my drafts file, then post it when people know.
I am now 8 weeks, 3 days according to the ultrasound, at least 10 weeks according to me (the most reliable source), and about 12 weeks according to my cycle. So basically we're not really sure where I'm at. We had the positive pregnancy test on January 17th after several weeks of "I'm so crampy I'm DEFINITELY getting my period tomorrow", "No, there's absolutely no way I'm pregnant", 2 negative pregnancy tests, and one night-before-the-positive-test firm decision that being pregnant would be the worst thing ever. Needless to say we were completely shocked, and unfortunately I must say rather dismayed. Russ was a complete stress case, worrying about being able to afford a van since there's no way we can fit 3 car seats into the car. I'm much more concerned about the boys and myself. I had made the decision that we definitely did not want another baby until Roanen was over 2 1/2, probably closer to 3 1/2. Aside from the fact that, other than sleeping, Roanen is only now starting to get easier to deal with at 13 months, I really wanted to be able to concentrate on and enjoy just having the two of them. Roanen will still be pretty much a baby himself at 20 months when I'm due, and I feel so sorry for him, as well as for Josey since he hasn't gotten much one on one attention since needy Roanen was born. I couldn't get the least bit excited over the thought of having a tiny, screaming, carry-me-around, feed-me-now baby again.
Fortunately, while I was storing some boxes this morning, I saw the box of newborn sleepers and got a momentary twinge of excitement and anticipation. I figured it would happen eventually, but it was still a nice feeling, and a change from the usual panic and stress. I can also get excited about being pregnant in the summer (remind me of this when I'm complaining about feeling like a human furnace in August) so instead of the hideous, huge winter maternity sweaters I wore the last two times around I can get cool tops. I've already picked out $100 worth of tank tops alone on the Motherhood Maternity website. Woohoo shopping!
I'll be having another ultrasound at the very least in about 5 weeks for the maternal serum screening that I'm going to do, unless the doctor believes my side of the story and wants to check the dates again. We're not finding out the sex of the baby (my choice, not Russ') and Russ won't discuss names until I'm at least 6 months along. I've been feeling a little better than I did with my pregnancy with Josey; I get queasy if I haven't eaten in a while and I'm pretty low on energy and motivation, which sucks. I've had a bit of indigestion and some crazy bad heartburn a couple of times, and my pants still fit but are getting a little tighter. I notice a little bulge, but no one else would be able to, I'm sure. Nursing Roanen was killing me for a while but since we've really cut down on that it's been ok. I'm probably not (ok, definitely not) eating enough for me, Roanen, and the baby, but I figure the baby will probably get first dibs on everything I do eat since nature tends to work that way.
So that's pretty much the scoop up until now. I'm glad I can write it all now while I remember everything - I'm sure pregnancy brain will set in soon. Again. Sigh.

Breath Expelled

Roanen's sleep habits have once again deteriorated to a point where I'm at the end of my rope. His naps, which were lasting between 1 1/2 and 2 hours twice a day (heaven!) have only been an hour long each for the past couple of days. Still not unbearable, but it was nice to have that time to myself and Josey. Nighttime is much worse, and his sleep stretches are back to less than 3 hours each. Three nights ago he slept a few hours, then when I went to nurse him he didn't unlatch himself and roll over like he usually does after a couple of minutes, so after about 15 minutes I tried to unlatch him because I am officially sick of nursing. He proceeded to go completely out of control, screaming and flinging himself around for 1 1/2 hours. I though he might sleep a long time after that, but he was up again 1 1/2 hours later so I just brought him into bed where he continued to whine about nursing. I've managed to wean him during the day, so the next step was getting him to fall asleep in his bed with me beside him. Two nights ago he had his bedtime routine with a story and a song, then I lay down with him. He cried and got off the bed a few times as usual, but fell asleep after about 30 minutes, which wasn't too bad in my opinion. I was congratulating myself on a job well done when he woke up 30 minutes later. Another 1/2 hour of crying, then he was back to sleep. This happened 4 more times BEFORE I went to bed, then he was up about another 3 times the rest of the night. I was determined to try putting him to bed like this for a week to see if there was any progress, so last night we did the routine, and it only took him 25 minutes to fall asleep. Actually, he settled down, stopped crying, and closed his eyes after only a couple of minutes, but he has now replaced nursing as a comfort with holding and squeezing my nose. Every time I tried to "unlatch" him from my nose he cried and fussed like I had unlatched him when I was nursing. I definitely don't want this to become a habit (although I think it already has) so I'll have to try to get him attached to a stuffed animal or something he can hold onto while falling asleep. So that sleep stretch only lasted 1 1/2 hours, then I gave up and just nursed him so he would go to sleep without screaming because I was sick of dealing with him. He still woke up a few more times and ended up in bed with us as usual.
After all of this, I just happened to remember that I have the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers book, and that she considers 1 year olds toddlers, so I checked it to see if there was any useful info in it. Coincidentally there's a case study in it with a 14 month old with all the sleep issues that Roanen has, so now I have a plan. It's going to involve much crying and probably a lot of sleepless nights for us, but hopefully it will work. I'll give it a good try anyway because I'm totally done with this.
On the plus side with Roanen, he has begun signing again. Most importantly he signs "hungry" which is great because now I know that when he gets really cranky he's usually hungry, and I also know that he's able to eat a lot more at a meal than I was giving him. He's also playing on his own and with Josey for really long periods of time, which gives me a nice break, although I can't get anything done because I'm afraid if he sees me or hears me doing something it's going to remind him that I'm around and he'll get clingy again.
Josey's behaviour has also been a lot better. He's listening a little more, and we had a huge breakthrough at Toybus yesterday when he wasn't running into anyone or running around like a maniac during song time. Even the organizer was really impressed and noticed that he was showing a ton of restraint when some of the other kids got hyper and he just watched them go crazy instead of joining in (or starting it for that matter which is what usually happens). He was very proud of himself, and is still talking about it a day later.
Finally, apparently Josey believes that he is solely responsible for Roanen, and has been apologizing for "not watching Roanen" when Roanen does things like fall down the stairs or break things. Pretty amusing stuff. Mostly. Unfortunately he just pooped his pants and apparently feels that he deserves chocolate for doing so. Give me strength...

Still Holding...

Roanen slept in his new bed for the second time last night, sleeping a good 5 hour stretch to start, then about 2 1/2 hours, then off and on for the next 2 hours. I'm thinking that this may end up being the usual routine of being in a new bed situation, sleeping noticeably better the first night, then gradually getting worse and worse until he's back to getting up every 2 1/2 hours and coming into bed with us.
He has also begun to have tantrums where he flings himself face first into the ground and lies there crying and writhing. Lovely.

Stairs Woes

Josey and Roanen both love the stairs at the new house. Originally we had planned on putting gates at the tops and bottoms so there wouldn't be any accidents, but they have so much fun being able to go up to their bedrooms and play independently that we just didn't bother. Unfortunately, Roanen is getting extremely brave and wants to go up and down the stairs like a big boy standing up and holding on the the railing with one hand. Then, two days ago Josey got excited and pushed him with his feet off the third step and he ended up with a few nasty bruises. I should have blocked the way then, but didn't. This morning Roanen ended up falling from (according to Josey) the last step while he was heading upstairs. I was going up the back stairs to meet them and I just heard bumping all the way down, then crying. Again he recovered quickly with a couple of bumps on his head, but I'm going to have to put the gates up now, so fun's over boys :(

Holding My Breath Again!

Last night Roanen slept in his new single bed for the first time. He fell asleep on my shoulder around 9 PM and moved into the bed no problem. His first sleep stretch was 2 hours long, then I had to nurse him (in his bed) for a couple of minutes before he rolled over and fell back to sleep. I'm eventually going to try to get him back to sleep without nursing, but I didn't want to throw too much at him at once since it was a new bed, new room, etc. He then woke up about 45 minutes after that, and I figured we were in for a crappy night. I decided that I would nurse him in his bed this one last time, then if he woke up again I'd just bring him into our bed and try again another night. Again, he nursed for a couple of minutes, then rolled over. I passed out for about 45 minutes, then moved back into our bed expecting him to be up within the next hour. I woke up several times waiting for him to fuss, but miraculously he slept through until 6:10 and woke up in a pretty good mood. So he slept a pretty good 6 hour stretch, which hasn't happened since he was about 6 or 7 months old. Hopefully he'll do the same as Josey and start sleeping through now that he's in his own bed. Crossing my fingers.

Standing Up!

Yesterday I was sitting on the floor in the livingroom with Roanen a few feet away, in the middle of the floor. I was looking down, then I looked up and saw him walking towards me giggling. He really hasn't been walking much since he first started taking a few steps, unless he's really encouraged to walk from one person to another, so it was unusual. Then I noticed that he must have stood up on his own since there was nothing to pull himself up on. Now that we have a rug in the living room, he was able to spread his legs, plant his feet, and walk his hands back until he was standing by himself. He was quite proud of himself and kept doing it all night and walking around. Once he even walked from the middle of the living room to the kitchen and halfway around the island, which is probably about 20+ steps. Josey joined in on the fun too, and pretended that he couldn't walk well, flinging himself on us whenever he got close. Not as fun when a heavy 3 year old does it...

Big Week for the Boys

So we're finally all moved in to the new house, and surprisingly enough the boys are adapting really well. They both seem to love the house, and even take off and play on their own for good chunks of time. It could be the novelty of the stairs, or else it's the fact that Roanen can't see me from everywhere in the house like he could at the old house, and out of sight is out of mind. Russ was able to take the week off work so things are getting unpacked and organized at record speed and we're able to give the kids more attention than they would be getting if it was only me at home trying to sort through the disaster.
Josey has stayed dry most days, although we really have to remind him and practically force him to pee when we think it's been long enough since the last time. On Sunday and Monday he did have a couple of not-so-accidental accidents, and since we were at the end of our rope, we cut two holes in a plastic garbage bag, put his legs through them, and tied them around his waist. He was not impressed with having to sit in his wet pants for a couple of hours. Sounds really cruel, but we figured he wasn't really suffering the consequences of peeing his pants when we immediately cleaned him off and put him in dry pants.
As for Roanen's sleeping, the first two nights we stayed here he slept in Josey's bed for part of the night (while Josey was at Grammie and Grampa's), but he didn't sleep much better than usual. The third night we put him in the playpen and his first sleep stretch was 5 1/2 hours! We were planning on setting up the toddler bed for him, but we can't seem to find any of the hardware to put it together. Now we're just going to get him a single bed and a gate so we can attempt to wean him at night. Since we've moved in I've been trying to get him to fall asleep without nursing, which entails lying down with him and either rubbing his back or pretending to sleep. It has actually worked several times, particularly during the day, but it's impossible for me to try to fit into the crib or playpen, which is the reason for the single bed, as early as it seems. So he hasn't nursed at all during the day for 3 days now (except for a quick one yesterday because my boob was about to explode) and once we get the single bed I'm going to try to night wean him, which should make for some loud, upsetting nights. He has also been going to bed at almost 9 PM every night, but sleeping in until after 7 AM. I think it's because he doesn't have a specific nap time during the day and it messes him up for bedtime when he passes out on somebody at 5 PM. Today I tried putting him down for his nap at 11:30 on Josey's bed and he ended up sleeping over 2 hours. Maybe he's ready to cut down to one nap a day, and then he'll start sleeping through the night! Like that will happen.