Sleep Issues - Round 2
It's been a rough couple of weeks. Chris has been home this week as instructed by his boss, which I love, but it definitely has it's challenges. In the apartment, he has no where but our room to sit and work. Of course, Ellis has decided to fight sleep like it's his life mission lately. So for the entire week I've been waking every couple of hours to nurse Ellis back to sleep and naps are a complete failure. I spend a half hour trying to soothe him to sleep as he lays in his crib, he falls asleep, wakes up 30 minutes later and is fussy another 30 minutes later. So I spend the entire day trying to get him to sleep. In the meantime, Caroline is in the bedroom with all of us, trying to get someone to play with her and jumping on the bed, yelling or doing anything else that will get her attention and ultimately, having a meltdown because she doesn't want to play by herself. So for our own reasons, we've all been irritable lately.
To top it off, I have reached my limit seeing tiny houses on busy roads that we could buy if we are willing to become house poor for the time being. We saw one on Friday that would have suited us fine for the next couple of years, but there was nothing great about it and I felt like it would not suit our needs past that time period. I cried afterwards thinking I was being too picky for the good of my family and getting us out of this apartment situation, but I just wouldn't feel right buying that house and my gut hasn't failed to help me make decisions in the past. So I'm mentally preparing myself for spending another winter in the apartment and hoping the house of our dreams will be for sale in the spring when we're refreshed and have some energy to house hunt once again.
There are plenty of good things we can focus our attention on though. Both of our children are getting so big so fast. Caroline is definitely no longer a toddler. She seems so big to us lately. Finally, she's starting to be able to control her behaviors with other kids and can share, deal with younger ones grabbing things from her (ok, sometimes), has gone out a few times with no diapers and only had one accident, and is now coming up with her own ideas that she's not just repeating from something we've said to her a few minutes ago. It's pretty amazing. While it's still a constant challenge to get her to comply with what we want her to be doing at every point in time, we're so proud of her when she shows us that she's learning. She is a good girl and full of excitement about seeing other people, going to the playground and of course, watching tv.
The funny thing about Ellis' sleep troubles is that I realized, while reading some old journal entries, that I was going through the exact thing with Caroline at four months. What a relief to know it is not lack of time or energy I have to dedicate towards getting him into a routine that is keeping him from getting ample sleep. A challenge I have with him is that there is very little I can do to help him get to sleep. Nursing seems to give him a boost of energy and he's not big on me holding or rocking him when he's tired unless he's in the wrap. The pacifier would be a big help except he loves to pull it out and play with it just after he realizes how soothing it is. Besides fussiness from being tired, he is a very content little guy. One difference I have noticed from Caroline, however, is how mobile he already is. He's been scooting on his back across the floor for a couple of months, but now I can't even put him in his boucy seat and I doubt in the swing either. One second after I buckle him in he's leaning forward, trying to grab at the toys (which are meant for kicking) and slowly falling to the side leaving the top half of his body hanging over the edge. The first time this happened, I was washing Caroline in the tub and almost had a heart attack when I saw Ellis' head 1/2 an inch from the floor as he was hanging there upside down. He will be rolling over any day now too. So the only place for him to play has been the floor and I have to make sure he's got a few feet of clearance if I want to take a trip to the bathroom and know he'll be safe. I guess it's time to get the overstimulation station out of storage at Dave & Stephanie's.
The other bright note is that after a couple of weeks diligently eating healthy, I'm just a few pounds shy of my pre-baby weight! I've been allowing myself to have Saturday's off, but lately, I've been getting back to indulging more than that and I know I've got to stop if I want to keep feeling and looking like I didn't just have a baby four months ago.
To top it off, I have reached my limit seeing tiny houses on busy roads that we could buy if we are willing to become house poor for the time being. We saw one on Friday that would have suited us fine for the next couple of years, but there was nothing great about it and I felt like it would not suit our needs past that time period. I cried afterwards thinking I was being too picky for the good of my family and getting us out of this apartment situation, but I just wouldn't feel right buying that house and my gut hasn't failed to help me make decisions in the past. So I'm mentally preparing myself for spending another winter in the apartment and hoping the house of our dreams will be for sale in the spring when we're refreshed and have some energy to house hunt once again.
There are plenty of good things we can focus our attention on though. Both of our children are getting so big so fast. Caroline is definitely no longer a toddler. She seems so big to us lately. Finally, she's starting to be able to control her behaviors with other kids and can share, deal with younger ones grabbing things from her (ok, sometimes), has gone out a few times with no diapers and only had one accident, and is now coming up with her own ideas that she's not just repeating from something we've said to her a few minutes ago. It's pretty amazing. While it's still a constant challenge to get her to comply with what we want her to be doing at every point in time, we're so proud of her when she shows us that she's learning. She is a good girl and full of excitement about seeing other people, going to the playground and of course, watching tv.
The funny thing about Ellis' sleep troubles is that I realized, while reading some old journal entries, that I was going through the exact thing with Caroline at four months. What a relief to know it is not lack of time or energy I have to dedicate towards getting him into a routine that is keeping him from getting ample sleep. A challenge I have with him is that there is very little I can do to help him get to sleep. Nursing seems to give him a boost of energy and he's not big on me holding or rocking him when he's tired unless he's in the wrap. The pacifier would be a big help except he loves to pull it out and play with it just after he realizes how soothing it is. Besides fussiness from being tired, he is a very content little guy. One difference I have noticed from Caroline, however, is how mobile he already is. He's been scooting on his back across the floor for a couple of months, but now I can't even put him in his boucy seat and I doubt in the swing either. One second after I buckle him in he's leaning forward, trying to grab at the toys (which are meant for kicking) and slowly falling to the side leaving the top half of his body hanging over the edge. The first time this happened, I was washing Caroline in the tub and almost had a heart attack when I saw Ellis' head 1/2 an inch from the floor as he was hanging there upside down. He will be rolling over any day now too. So the only place for him to play has been the floor and I have to make sure he's got a few feet of clearance if I want to take a trip to the bathroom and know he'll be safe. I guess it's time to get the overstimulation station out of storage at Dave & Stephanie's.
The other bright note is that after a couple of weeks diligently eating healthy, I'm just a few pounds shy of my pre-baby weight! I've been allowing myself to have Saturday's off, but lately, I've been getting back to indulging more than that and I know I've got to stop if I want to keep feeling and looking like I didn't just have a baby four months ago.
posted by Alissa at 4:38 PM
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