In need of some shut eye!

Last night we had a tough night with Mr. Mr.  it seems that this goes in cycles.  We have a few days of great sleeping when I feel that I might actually get a chance to sleep a straight five hours and then in an instant it all goes to pot!

Now couple that with Miss Poo who only goes to sleep by either nursing or being on her daddy, and you have a two very cranky and tired parents.

So what do i do? I read recently that there are good ages to try and sleep train when a child is developmentally in a better place to do so.  The next stage that they recommend that she will be in is the 12-15 month range when separation anxiety is at a low and their activity is at a high and therefore falling asleep may be easier.  So what is a mom to do?

We do the whole bedtime routine, but I wonder if I wait to late to do it.  We  I have tried the sitting next to her crib and then gradually move away night after night and that just seems to piss her off more.  We I have tried the all out cry it out method... and man....that means war!  Add to this a dad who doesn't like to hear her cry but doesn't really want to be in charge of the bedtime routine and it gets truly exhausting! 

So I am reaching out, to anyone, and I mean anyone, who can and will give me some tips as to how they got their children to sleep!  Please!  My brain is being eaten alive by the bed bugs!!!

Dinner and a Show

Frantically starving, that is the only way I can describe Mr. Mr. when he is over hungry and refuses to eat.  Its like he doesn't understand that if he just opened his mouth and let me feed him his aching stomach would feel so much better.  So I am resorted to all kinds of tricks, I strap him in his chair and move it back and forth with my feet while singing "row row row your boat", I do joint compressions, working my way up his legs and arms and then in between try and get the spoon in his mouth, I tickle him, (or at least try to amuse him, but to no avail) I dip his binky in the food and try to get him to taste it, or sing "itsy bitsy" spider and put his fingers in it then wrestle them in his mouth.  Often he will take one or two bites then we have to start all over again.  Sometimes I will sneak it in when his mouth is open in protest (don't tell his speech therapist!) Its exhausting!  But after about ten or so spoon fulls, his brain is connected to his stomach and he realizes, "okay, this is making me feel better". Then we both know that it was well worth it! The trick is to get the food in him before he gets to this point.  Usually that means just sticking to his routine and he is golden, but with school he has been coming home exhausted and sleeping a lot.  This has meant that he has slept through his regular scheduled meals. (he eats approximately 6 meals a day!) Needless to say, we have had a lot of activity at the kitchen table.

The ticket booth opens at 12 - discount for group rates.    

And now for a poo break

With all the excitement of Walker going to school, it wasn't intentionally overlooked that miss poss has started walking.  Trust me, its not overlooked, just glance around my house and you can see the destruction!  Watching her amazes me everyday.  As I have previously mentioned, I went back to work with my older two boys when they were 6 weeks old.  I feel like I missed out on so much of their development and didn't really get to enjoy that short time between baby and child.  With Walker, its different. Its very obvious to see now how Sawyer at 11 months and 18 days old, has surpassed him in every way.  Its a little sad for Walker but the flip side,is its exciting for Sawyer.

A friend of mine coined them yin and yang because i had sent her this picture.


They truly are Yin and Yang:

• she eats only sweets
• he loves everything green
• she sleeps as soon as the car moves
• he refuses to sleep in the car
• she wants to sleep in our bed
• he needs his own space
• she has to be on the move, all the time
• he loves to just snuggle and chill
• she is a social butterfly
• he is timid and quiet around people he doesn't know
• he loves the shower
• she loves the bath
• he can't stand having dirty diapers
• she will walk around all day and not care

As time goes on, it may be difficult to watch Sawyer continue to surpass him, but I want to celebrate their differences! Together they are a great fit!

First week of school

I know you all have been anxiously waiting to hear how Mr. Mr's first week of school went.  I thought about blogging several times during the week but it just didn't happen.  I thought that with him being in school I would have so much time on my hands, but guess what? three other children just came in and swooped it away!

His first day was a little rough for dad and I.  Daddy stayed home to make sure he got on the bus okay and we headed up the hill to the road for pick up.

I wasn't sure how he would handle the bus, since loud noises and quick movement sometimes startle him. But the lift wasn't loud and the bus vibrates with the engine so I think he liked it!

Daddy and I followed him to school to make sure that the ride went smooth.  The plan was that if he wasn't upset I would just leave and he wouldn't even know I was there. (One advantage to having a child with limited sight).  And he was fine.  Daddy, on the other hand had a hard time.

The day went well and his notebook said he did great.  

Tuesday I went and peaked in the window around 11:30.  I had already warned his teacher that I may be a stalker for a little while but to not be alarmed.  Of course when I looked in the window they had him underneath it so I couldn't see him.  At that point I was already at the school so I had to lay eyes on him. I signed in and went to the classroom door.  He was sitting in a feeding chair and they were getting ready to feed him lunch.  He was crying, but he usually is very impatient when it comes time to eat,  so I chatted with his Vision Therapist and Old Speach therapist then looked in on him again.  by this time he was chowing so he was fine.  

Every day we wait for him to get off the bus around 3 o'clock.  This is a long day for him!  He is exhausted and then sleeps for a few hours.  We are trying to get him into a routine to only sleep for an hour or so, otherwise he keeps us up until midnight!

Friday I checked on  him again around the same time and he was upset again.  I think he is just hungry, so I will send in a note suggesting to feed him more at snack which will allow him to go a little longer for lunch time. All in all, its good.  Friday morning Ramiah reported that when they were waiting for the bus to pick him up, Walker suddenly picked his head up and started smiling.  Within  two minutes Ramiah was able to hear the bus coming so he felt that Walker had heard it moments before and was excited to hear it coming!

Its hard letting go and allowing someone else to care for him.  I was never this nervous with Mason or Dylan, but then again I worked full time and didn't really have a choice. I know that they can give him more than i can and that it is the best thing for him.  I am just happy that he seems to like it!  It makes it a lot easier on all of us!

HBOT's ripple affects

Its been some time since I wrote about HBOT, we haven't been going to sessions because he has started school, and we went on vacation and its just been a hectic place around here.  Interestingly enough, though, we are still seeing the affects of the HBOT every day.  One of the largest impacts is that Walker does not freak out about water any more.

I have blogged about it previously, here. But I must say that things have gotten much better!  We changed up the routine for bath time, and instead of trying to get him used to baths, we switched to showers in his bath seat.  This cracks him up! He always took showers with daddy but as he is getting bigger, it has become more of a challenge (don't tell daddy, he'll never admit it!).  Also, with the amount of poop explosions that we have around here, I needed a way to bath him myself. 

The hugest impact of this was evidenced while we away on vacation.  Even though we were in Maine, the temperatures still reached 95!  We rented a house on the lake and finally on the fourth day of misery for Mr. Mr.  we gave it a try.  Guess what?   he loved it!!  This is HUGE!!!

He splashed, he kicked, he laughed and he sang!  It was awesome!  He stayed in the water for almost an hour, loved hearing the older kids play and just being cool.  We were a little afraid that we might have created a monster since it was still so darn hot! But he ate and slept well that night!  so it looks like I may just have to get that kiddie pool afterall!

Play away books

In preparation for vacation I took my older boys to the local library to get out some good reads to bring with them on the  trip.  For many people, this may not be terribly exciting news, but for us we were psyched!  Growing up in our township we did not have access to the local library system because the tax payers in our area do not feel the need to pay into the library tax.  This meant that we couldn't use any libraries.... anywhere!  When we moved to our current location, the township here made a deal with the library system to have only residents who request it, to gain access to their system.  I am a lover of books, so of course I made sure we signed up!

I also invited my nephew and niece to come along since they don't have library access either.  I asked the librarian how many books we could take out and she said up to 50.  This seemed like a huge amount but by the time we were done, we checked out over 25!

The most exciting part was discovering audio books for Walker!  It is a series that they have of audio books, that come pre-recorded on a little digital machine and all you have to do is put in a AAA battery and ear phones!  This is awesome!  I am always looking for things to occupy Walker and cannot just plunk him in front of the television, so this was a great idea!

Here he is listening to Clifford and really seemed to enjoy it!