Sleep Frustrations

Josh: Josh is almost a really great sleeper. Most nights he has his last meal by 8:30 (sometimes as early as 6 or so). Then he sleeps peacefully in his bassinet for about 5 hours. Some nights we don't hear from him until 1:30. He eats well at that time and then goes back down for another couple of hours. However, night after night after night, the hours between about 2 am and 5 am are ridiculously noisy. Josh does not cry and he does not open his eyes. But imagine every other sound a baby can make, and he's making it! It is impossible for us to sleep through this. Inevitably, I end up bringing him to sleep on me, which usually works for a bit, but not for too long, and it's not comfortable! Sometimes we end up sleeping in his rocking chair. Also not comfortable. I usually try to feed him when he “wakes” like this, but lately he hasn't even wanted to eat much. So I don't think he's hungry. He's just annoying! Then, like clockwork, at 5:00 he passes back out in his bassinet and sleeps peacefully for another hour or two. I don't get it! Hoping he figures this out before I go back to work in just over a week. We may switch to a bit of formula at night soon, so maybe that will help???

Layla: Layla recently transitioned to a toddler bed. She currently is sleeping in her old crib which we converted to a bed. We also picked up a toddler bed from some friends, since the crib will be Josh's at some point (how that might happen is for a whole other blog post!). Both beds are in her room now. We had to transition her because she was launching herself out of her crib at 5 in the morning on too many occasions. Now that she has freedom to move around in her room, we're experiencing a whole new set of unwanted behaviors. Ferber says this is not uncommon when the physical limits of the crib bars are removed. Now it's our job to set the limits. DOH! Everyone used to be so impressed at how easy it was for us to put Layla to bed. It could be done in a matter of seconds and she never hollered out for anything. Now she stalls until she can stall no more. Milk, stories, Mama, Dada, water, stories, Josh...you name it. And when we try to leave she tantrums and runs to the door screaming her head off. I did put a safety knob on the door, so at least she can't get out. There are nights that, when she finally does go down, she awakens in the night and repeats all of the requests and tantrums. So....we are getting better about setting limits. We have made it very clear...one book, brush teeth, one book, bed. However, she's 2 and doesn't completely get it. Since we've gotten strict and consistent she has been great. But every night when we put her down I feel like we're just crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. Oh, and did I mention that she's up at 5:30 almost daily (yesterday was 6:00, but today was 4:45!)?

Some day, when they're 7 and 5 or so, this will get better, right?

Aunt Meredith!

Here are some pics from the last week or so, including a visit from Aunt Meredith. Josh is smiling more and more this week and sooner or later we'll catch it on film!

Another bath:


Playing under the baby gym


Someone busted his swaddle


Cute!


Meredith does playdoh with Layla


Aunt Meredith says hello


Tickle Time!

Ouch!

We had an exciting Sunday afternoon. Friends from Maine visited with their children and Layla was having a blast playing with the kids. Mom and Dad were having a fun time, too :). Shortly after dinner Layla fell off of her step-stool in the bathroom and hit her head on something (we still aren't sure what). There was a lot of blood and a visible laceration above her left eye. She, of course, was screaming and panicking while Chris and I tried to apply a dressing to it. We quickly debated about whether or not to go to the ER; the cut wasn't very big and we knew that head injuries often bleed a lot when they aren't so serious, but we also knew that we weren't medical experts and it seemed possible that stitches could be necessary.

We packed up the kids, said goodbye to our friends, and headed to the Winchester Hospital ER. By the time we put Layla in the car she was completely calm, a bit scared, I think, but not crying and not touching her wound. Luckily, the ER was nearly empty and the staff was wonderful. Joshua cooperated by sleeping the entire time (thank goodness!). It didn't take long for us to be seen by the doctor, who determined that Layla needed 3 stitches. The entire time that we were there, Layla did not whimper or cry one bit. She was such a brave little girl!

The entire thing was over within 2 hours, and the nurses gave Layla a popsicle for the road. She was thrilled :).

The stitches should dissolve within 5 days. In the meantime, everything is covered by ster-strips so she can't touch it. We have to keep it dry until Tuesday night but then she can be bathed and shampooed as normal. We follow up with the pediatrician on Friday.

All's well that ends well!

Prior to the stitches:

Just prior to the sutures. All swaddled up with Elly.

Sisterly Love, cont.

I forgot to mention one of the most meaningful points. When Josh is upset, and sometimes even when he's not, Layla will bring Elly to him and put her on his head or belly. Elly is Layla's best friend in the whole world - her little elephant blanky. When she's at home, Layla can rarely be seen without Elly, or in the process of looking for Elly. So to give Elly up to her brother is quite special. Here she is after spending the evening at the ER.

Sisterly Love

Layla is so in love with her little brother. Friends can't believe how well she's adjusted, and it's certainly made things easier for us! She wakes up in the morning and asks to see Josh...usually by saying "Ah see Dosh!". Which of course means she actually wants to touch him, despite our efforts to explain that you see with your eyes :). She says hi to him, from about an inch away from his face. She also kisses his head, holds his hand, rubs his hair, and gives him hugs. When he's crying, she often comes to him and says, "Sokay, Dosh!" (it's ok, Josh). And when he sneezes she is the first to say, "Sheshoo, Dosh!" (bless you, Josh!). This morning while Daddy was holding Josh, Layla took his little hand and made it wave and she said, "Hi, Dada!"

We realize that the two kids won't always get along this well, but it's very sweet to see now. Makes up for the fact that Layla dropped her sippy cup on his head last night :).

Almost a Smile

Josh had some really sweet awake time today. I think he's getting close to real smiles!

Josh's First Roadtrip

We traveled to Maine this weekend for a wedding at Camp Roosevelt, the Boy Scout camp where Chris worked for many summers. I was proud of us for even attempting the trip with a one month old. But would you believe someone stole our thunder at the wedding, and dared to show up with their 2.5 week old?!

There was contra dancing at the wedding and even though she was more tired than she's ever been, Layla loved the dancing. In the video below we had already changed her out of her party dress and into play clothes.

On the way to Eddington, we stopped in Waterville to visit Chris's great uncle and aunt, Merton and Florence. They were storing a stroller that I purchased on Craigslist, so we were able to have a nice visit and also pick up our new Joovy Caboose Ultralight for toting both kids around.

On Sunday we had a really fun visit with Grampa, Charley, Bella, and cousins. Layla tried so hard to keep up with the big kids!