Tonight we had our second visit from the
religious folks since we’ve been here. Welcome to the suburbs!
Today’s visitor looked kind of like Matt
Damon… not so bad really. Let’s hope the girl
scouts are as active come cookie time!
Question for the parents out there… how
long is too long to let a kid sit happily in their bed as they
try to fall asleep?
I ask because Lex
is up to about an hour these days. He used to fall asleep
pretty quickly, but now he jumps in his bed, kicks the wall,
talks to himself, tells himself stories, and eventually starts
playing with his doggie (it plays a lullaby), then falls
asleep. It’s interesting to listen to, really. He’s generally
very good about staying in the bed and when he gets up it’s
almost always to play with the baby monitor, so I’m not too
worried about distractions in his room or anything. He just
takes a loooong time to settle down.
We
haven’t changed anything in terms of timing or routine. He
still gets books before naps and a bath and books before bed.
He naps around 1pm (sleeping usually from 2-4pm) and goes to
bed about 8pm (asleep around 9pm). I guess bedtime has been
pushed back a bit because of the later naps. We used to try and
have him in bed by 7 or 7:15, but lately it’s closer to 8:00,
but he’s also sleeping later in the morning (7:00-7:30) which
is super nice!
So anyway. Sometimes
after 1/2 hour or more I start thinking I should get him up,
but I know he’s tired. I’m putting him down when I do because
he’s tired, not just because of the clock. And I think that if
I get him up I’ll just be putting him back down again in a few
minutes. Is that better or just more confusing for him? He is
such a silly boy.
It occurred to me tonight that I haven’t
taken any belly pictures this pregnancy. Guess the novelty of
showing the world my big ol’ belly wore off the first time
around :) But, since I keep telling you all how huge it is,
here is proof. I hope I can handle 8 more weeks of
growth…
It does make a great seat for Lex
though…
And for comparison, here is a
picture of the belly (with Lex inside) at 30 weeks last time
around. Definitely bigger this time, don’t you think? Must be
the weakened stomach muscles. My abs of steel (hehehe) are no
longer…
I decided to take up knitting again. I’m
poor though, so instead of buying yarn and stuff, I tried to
make due with what I had. Like it? Wrong yarn and needles for
the project, but I think it came out ok :) Now let’s all hope
for a baby with small hands and a tiny head (for multiple
reasons!). I made a sweater for Lex as a newborn, but the head
hole was too small too. Not sure I trust these baby patterns…
In other baby news, my belly is huge
and this kid is active!! Alan was reading The Great
Cookie Thief to Lex last night and I reclined in the
papasan chair for a bit and baby went wild. I was watching my
belly and could see the movement. Not even full-belly moves,
but very specific kicks and bumps. It looked like there was a
creature in my belly (there is!) trying to get out (not yet
please!). I showed Alan later and baby did a good job of
bouncing around for him to see too. What a fun baby!!
Today was a very tired day. I’ve had a headache
in my neck, jaw, and head all day and I can’t seem to kick it.
Lex was rambunctious, rebellious, silly, playful, and overtired
all day. He even fell asleep in his highchair at lunch!! I kid
you not. The movie below would have been perfect if I’d gotten
it about 30 seconds earlier when he was still trying to lift
his yogurt spoon into his mouth… as he fell asleep.
Tonight ended in a showdown. Lex started screeching for no
apparent reason. He is hard to discipline sometimes because
he’ll do something you don’t want him to (screech at the top of
his lungs) then immediately go back to adorable mode. He
screeched in the tub, I asked him if he wanted to have a nice,
quiet bath or get right out of the tub… he screeched again,
so out of the tub he went. Same situation on the changing table
and in the bathroom trying to brush teeth. I had to pin him
down to get those pearly whites peanut buttter-free tonight! It
came down to a choice between bedtime stories and more
screeching… needless to say he is in his crib now and very,
very angry. It sucks. We had to put him in the crib because he
wouldn’t stay in the toddler bed. I ended up in my bed crying
right along with him. A good time was had by all :/
I know I can chalk the whole thing up to
“overtired toddler” but that doesn’t make it any easier
really….
Alan just went up to give him
a hug again and Lex asked to sleep in his new bed, so Alan
moved him. Now he’s up there playing with his doggie (it’s a
music box toy, he loves it) and yawning. I think he’ll be out
in a minute. I hope!!
I’m going to go
crash on the couch now. Maybe the headache will finally go
away…
I have taken on another baby for a few
days. His name is Kaelen and he’s 6 months old. I figure it
will give me some 2-baby practice at a time when I’m coherent
and not totally sleep deprived. Today was our first day. Kaelen
came over after my doctor’s appointment (more on that below)
and he and Lex have been intrigued by each other. I think Lex
likes having Kaelen’s toys here more than actually having him
here. I have to confess I was very happy that Alan came home
for lunch and helped me get them both down for a nap. Kaelen
needs to be rocked to sleep and each time I got him close, Lex
would start making noise. Hmm… we’ll have to figure out a
solution to that situation. But now they are both sleeping and
mommy gets a little break. Yay!
Lex and
I went to see the midwife this morning for my 31 week checkup.
All is well. I was getting worried about my weight gain because
I feel huge these days, but so far I’ve only
gained 13lbs! Yay! I gained 33lbs total with Lex, but she said
that if my weight gain continues as it has been, I should be
under 20lbs with this new one. Double-yay!! :) All is well with
baby, of course. Good kicker, good heartbeat, belly measuring
right on track. No news is good news, right?
We’re coming into the final stretch of
this pregnancy now… just a few more months to go :) I like
being pregnant though. Have I mentioned that? It’s especially
neat now that baby is very active and Alan and I can both feel
good kicks. I’ve also started taking a prenatal yoga class,
which is a good way to stretch and whatever, but also a nice
hour and a half each week to remind myself that I’m pregnant.
The instructor started the first class with a few minutes of
breathing and thinking about the baby. I never get that kind of
time at home! Always thinking about the big baby who’s tackling
me, jumping on me, or begging for a book. Lex, that is, not
Alan ;) So once a week I get to relax, stretch with other
pregnant mommies, and think about this new little bundle of joy
who will soon be joining our happy family. It’s nice.
There are, of course, aches and pains and I’m
gaining way too much weight (Alan dug out the scale the other
day — sad, sad day), but overall I like being
pregnant!
My little man is awesome! I just love
him.
I told you about Friday’s nap (or
nap process, anyway) and how he ended up back in the crib.
Friday night we went out to Alan’s company’s holiday party. It
was at the local science museaum and everyone had fun. We
didn’t get home until 10:00pm though, so we put him right into
the toddler bed and he fell asleep in about 5 minutes. Today we
decided to try Love & Logic (this is what my lost post from
last weekend was about) on him. We asked if he wanted to take
his nap in the new bed or the crib (he chose new bed, of
course), so we put him down in the new bed. We told him that he
needs to stay in the bed and not get up. Then Alan and I sat
down outside his door. Lex stayed in bed for almost 10 minutes,
talking to himself and doggie, but then he got up and came over
to the door. This part kind of broke my heart. I opened the
door and he gave me a big grin and said “HI” :) I picked him up
and said “So sad. (his face dropped) If you can’t stay in the
new bed then you have to take your nap in the crib.” He wailed.
We put him down in the crib. He wailed for a few minutes,
occaisionally saying “so sad,” then fell asleep pretty quickly.
Tonight we did the regular bedtime routine (home at a decent
hour, that’s always a good start) and asked again if he wanted
to sleep in his new bed or the crib. He chose the new bed, of
course. So we put him down and reminded him that he has to stay
in the bed and not get up. I sat outside his door for 30
minutes, listening to him talk to himself, recite almost all of
Goodnight Moon and several nursery rhymes. At one point he even
said “doggie sit in chair, doggie in chair” and I was all
prepared to go in there, but then he said “no, no, no, stay in
new bed.” So smart!! I did have to go in once because he fell
out of the bed and hit the floor, crying, saying “hurt self,
hurt self.” :) I went in and hugged him and put him back in the
bed. He was happy. Now he’s asleep in his new bed! I love
him!!
And as I write this the new baby
is rumbling in my belly. Sometimes I get very direct kicks (or
elbows, punches, who knows…), but othertimes the baby just
rolls over or something and my whole belly rumbles. It’s so
cool. We hit 30 weeks this week. Eeek…. March is going to be
here in no time!
Today is a big day for Lex. We got him a toddler
bed this week (borrowed it from a friend, really) and today was
our first attempt at sleeping in it. Didn’t go so well :) Alan
brought the bed home on Wednesday, Lex and I set it up
Thursday, and we brought it upstairs to his room this morning.
He loved it. He “helped” me set it up last night and played on
it for a long time this morning. At one point, I was my room,
and I heard Lex putting doggie to bed. “Night doggie.
Cumidifier on. Fan on. Blanket for doggie.” Very cute.
We got off to a bad start on the nap though.
He usually goes down around 1:00pm, but today we went out to
lunch and didn’t get home until 2:30! And, of course, he fell
asleep in the car on the way home. So when I tried to put him
down it was way past naptime and he’d already slept for about
10 minutes. As most of you know, once a kid snoozes for a bit
they are pretty sure they’ve had their nap for the day. So we
spent an hour with me sitting outside his door and going in
every 2 minutes to put him back in the bed. He was happy
sometimes, angry othertimes, but always got back in the bed
when I came in. After an hour (now 3:30!) he stopped getting in
the bed and started pushing back. I said, “So sad. I guess
you’ll take a nap in the crib instead.” And put him in the
crib. He screamed like mad for 20 minutes, intermingling “so
sad” and “want new bed” in with the cries. Then he fell
asleep.
Now I have to be a mean mommy
and wake him up in a few minutes since it’s nearly 5:00 and a
little late for napping. Luckily we have Alan’s company’s
holiday party tonight, so he’ll be up nice and late
anyway.
We’ll try the new bed again
tomorrow and see how it goes. I think he’ll get the hang of it
sooner or later :)