Sleep? What's that!?!?!

I am so in love with my blog right now.  Why, you ask?  Because it gives me the opportunity to realize just how bad a sleeper Sam is.  I really thought this period we are going through right now is isolated and that normally Sam had been a good sleeper, but now I know differently.  Just goes to show you how quickly I can make myself forget the bad stages.

Exhibit A:
July 12, 2010 blog entry

Exhibit B:
November 18, 2010 blog entry

And let me now add the most recent set of trouble we are experiencing.  The below recap is from our strategy to put a gate on Sam's door and not let her out.  Take out anything fun that is in her room and keep her inside at all costs.  The weeks leading up to this new addition to her doorway was many continuous nights when Sam would get up at all hours (usually every 30 to 45 minutes) and start demanding different things (needs her Leapster, needs her iTouch, needs to brush her teeth, needs to wash her hands, needs to change her pajamas, needs to switch blankets, etc).  The girl just wouldn't go to sleep or stay asleep without a major battle.  It is a wonder that either of us were functioning at all during the day.  Although, I do admit to falling asleep at traffic lights. That's when you know something has got to change!


January 20 - January 25, 2010

Operation: Stay asleep (night 1) - a BIG success. 2 or 3 more nights of this and we may actually have a well-rested 2 year old in our home. It's funny that I feel waking up at 11:40pm and 3:36am as a success. How my perspective has changed in the last several weeks.

Operation: Stay asleep (night 2) - an even BIGGER success!! For the first time in at least 2 months, Sam did not fight us on being put down to bed or wake up at all during the night. Wowee!! It is a great feeling waking up this morning knowing we are headed in the right direction.

Operation: Stay asleep (night 3) - not such a good report. It took 3 major screaming episodes and more than 2 hours for Sam to fall asleep. Finally at 9:45pm she went down. Then she woke up at 12:30am and 2:00am. Each time she came to the door, stood by her gate and threw a fit to be let out.

Operation: Stay asleep (night 4) - progress is being made again! Sam went to sleep right at 7:10pm and didn't fight us on it. She woke up only once at 1:00am, came to her door, and in less than one minute was back in her bed for the rest of the night (with no interference from us). She woke up for the day at 6:10am. Yay! We are back in business.

Operation: Stay asleep (night 5) - not fun. Sam went to sleep easily & was out by 7:30pm. Woke up at 11:48pm & started screaming big-time to get out. Jeff caved & went in at 12:10am to put her back to bed. (NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS!!). Then she was out of bed again screaming from 12:30am to 2:00amish. She finally stopped screaming & played on her own until 3:00amish. Woke up for the day by 6:00am. Lovely.

Operation: Stay asleep (night 6) - more of the same. Sam went to sleep by 7:45pm, stayed "quiet" all night long and was up for the day at 5:40am. Not sure what happened during the night, but she had on all of yesterday's clothes over her pajamas. Which means she did this in complete darkness. Not actually sure just how much of last night Sam spent sleeping. Don't care either. I got 7 hours. :)

I'd like to think that the situation is getting better and we are making progress, but that could be the optimistic in me.  I really think that Sam has a sleep disorder and needs more help than Jeff and I can give her.  I am thisclose taking her to the dr for a full blood work-up and a strong request to find out what we can do to have her sleep patterns checked-out. 

The hardest part in all this is Sam has given up her nap.  So she is *waking-up* for the day cranky and just gets crankier as the day wears on.  This major sleep deprivation is wreaking havoc with her temperament.  I know, I don't enjoy being around her when she is like this.  It is not fun.  Not fun at all.

I am frustrated.  Tired.  Stressed.  And more than anything, I want my 2 year old to learn to sleep.

Heard and Observed XIX

This is too good not to share with those who aren't FB friends with Jeff.  He had originally posted this on MLK Day and I can't resist also adding it to my blog.

Jeff:  Ian, do you know how Martin Luther King, Jr was?
Ian:  Yes, Martin Luther King's son.

Hahahahah!!  Jeff totally got a taste of his own medicine and received the same exact response he would've given had he been asked when he was a little boy, or even this age for that matter.  Just so you know, after the smarty response, Ian was able to answer the question perfectly.  I guess those 10 minutes spent in kindergarten are proving worthwhile.

****************************************************************************

The Fun Mom

I love the show "Modern Family" on ABC.  One of my most favorite episodes aired right before our November trip.  It was Manny's birthday and the whole family was coming together to celebrate at a local restaurant.  The show to me was hilarious and I enjoyed it all 3 times I saw it.  I don't normally watch the same episode over and over again, but it seemed like every time I turned around, another family member of mine was catching up on recorded shows on the DVR.

Which reminds me of something similar to the show "Sex and the City". I never watched that show.  Ever.  But the one episode I saw at a friend's house (because they faithfully watched it each week), was "Plus One".  Then get this, years ago, Jeff and I went to NYC for a weekend trip and went to visit the "Museum of Television and Radio".  We had gotten tickets for some kind of exhibit and arrived early.  We ducked into the theatre showing a "Sex and the City" marathon and you guessed it, they were showing the same exact episode, "Plus One."  And, another time I was at a different friend's house who was watching a rerun of a "Sex and the City" espisode and the same exact "Plus One" came on.  OMG!  I am sure that "Sex and the City" made other shows besides this one, but you wouldn't know it by me.

Whoa, please forgive my tangent. I just had this memory pop into my head and felt the need to share. I mean, what are the odds for a show I never saw, that I would see the same exact episode 3 times!?!? 

Anyway, back to Modern Family, which I do love and will watch each week.  Claire, Phil and the family are about to leave their house and head to the restaurant.  Words are exchanged between Claire and Phil and a bet is placed on who can get to the restaurant first based on their favorite route to get there.  During the drive Claire comes to the realization that she is not the fun parent, Phil is.  All the crazy, zany ideas come from Phil, not Claire. 

This got me thinking.  I want to be the fun parent!  I want to surprise the kids and do something out of character for once.  I feel like for weeks we were getting into a boring routine of picking Ian up from school, heading home, having a snack and then making sure Ian did his homework, have me make dinner and then get the kids ready for bed.  Not a whole lot of fun.  And looking back years from now, are the kids going to think I was the fun parent?  Probably not.  It was bumming me out.

So I went for it.  One afternoon, before our big trip, Sam and I picked Ian up from school.  I told Ian we had a stop to make on the way home.  It was to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream.  Now that was fun and unexpected, right?  Ian got very excited when he realized where we were going.  As we were getting out of the car Ian came clean and said to me, "Is it okay if I have ice cream again since we had an ice cream party in class today?"  WHAT!?!?!!  Who knew that the kids were having an ice cream party at school?  And since Ian's kindergarten is all of 3 hours long, it was probably within the last hour.  Oh my!

I couldn't go back on my word now.  The fun mom was out and was not going back!  "Sure Ian.  You can have ice cream twice today."  Because that is what the fun parent would say.

Keeping up with Current Events

Samantha has picked up a new habit.  This is actually a good one that we can all endorse and stand behind.  She likes to read the newspaper.  We'll be having breakfast at the table in the morning and Sam will grab a section of the paper and look at it like she is reading it.  It is really cute. 

If she is done eating her cereal or pancakes and not done with the newspaper, she'll take it to the ottoman or couch and finish "reading" it. 

So far she doesn't have a preference with which section she reads.  One morning after about 10 minutes of staring at the paper, she put it down on the table and said with a heavy, exasperated sigh, "I can't read" and gave a very big pouty face.  She truly looked sad at her revelation.

We always thought that Ian was going to be "the smart one", but signs are now pointing to Sam giving him some stiff competition.

You know, you can go more than once

One morning, Ian wakes up and I follow him downstairs.  Our routine is that we get him a big straw-cup of milk to drink first thing in the morning and then approx. an hour later, he has breakfast.

Ian on his way to the bathroom (for that first of the day pee after sleeping for 11.5 hours straight) sees me bringing him his milk.

Ian:  "Oh, I'll just wait to go after I have my milk."

Me:  "It's okay Ian, you should always go right when you wake-up."

Ian:  "Why?  I'll just have to go again later after the milk is gone."

I have no idea if for the past year and a half (since Ian has been trained at night, wearing underwear) if he never went to the bathroom first thing.  I can't believe this is something I hadn't picked up on before.

Wow, I am impressed with the size of his bladder.  However, I did encourage him to always go right away and not to hold it.

Scotty Hamilton in the making

Ian has been dying to try ice skating.  He wanted to go last Winter, but for one reason or another, we never made it to the rink.  As soon as the weather got cold this year, Ian started asking again if we could go.  Always up for a challenge, I put a date on the calendar for me to take Ian ice skating.

We ended up going earlier than planned.  We had plans last weekend to meet up with some friends for lunch at Pentagon Row. Of course there is a small outdoor rink and it was hard not to pass up this opportunity.  However, the other family we were with backed out of going ice skating due to the cold and windy weather.  We told Ian we couldn't go either and at the very last minute (on the way to car to go home), I changed my mind and went for it.

The bucket became Ian's best friend

It was fun, funny and silly all at the same time. Ian's skates had the double blades and he was pushing the big bucket to help with balance.  You would think this was his first time learning how to walk and banana peels were all over the floor with how much slipping and falling he did.  No matter how many times Ian hit the ground, he got right back up and kept trying to master skating.  It's a good thing Ian is flexible, because his legs went in every direction possible while going down on the ice.  I didn't realize how good Ian is at doing splits.

After 30 minutes, he had enough.  He got very brave more than few times and tried to leave the bucket behind and take-off solo making his way around.  Got to give the little guy credit, he showed no fear.

Funniest line was at the end of our skating session when Ian said, "I'm going to have dinner standing up tonight." 

Not to be deterred, Ian had a great time and wants to go back for more.  We are going to keep our original date on the calendar and build on our success, no broken bones.

Here is some video of Ian in action. 

Miss Independent

Here was the scene at our house the other afternoon: 

Ian (age 5.5 years old):  I'm hungry.  Can I have some goldfish?
Me:  Sure, I'll get you some.

I get Ian's wash from his room and take it downstairs to the washing machine. 

Ian: Hey, where's my goldfish? 
Me:  I will get it for you now.

Meanwhile, Sam (age 2.5 years old) comes into the kitchen, gets her step stool and brings it over to the junk drawer.  Finds her pair of child-friendly scissors (right next to the really sharp pair of scissors) and takes her step stool over to the pantry.  Opens the pantry, gets out a 2 pt Weight Watchers caramel flavored bar, closes the pantry door, and moves her operation over to the kitchen counter.  Gets back up on the step stool, takes the scissors and opens the wrapper to the caramel bar.  Gets back down, puts the scissors back in the drawer, takes her opened bar and joins Ian on the couch.

She didn't ask me for a snack or tell me she was hungry.  She went about her business and helped herself to what she wanted.  She put a plan in place to make it happen and went on her way.  It was pretty impressive.  I wonder if she can teach Ian how to get his own snacks.