MommyBlog

Actually, it’s gotten  a little better around here.   Cooper’s ear infection has diminished, though he’s caught another cold (presumably from another friend who neglected to tell me that her kids were sick before they kissed my precious baby’s face…).  

I’ve started doing something I never saw happening, though:   I’m a champion cheerleader of breastfeeding, and I’ve started giving Cooper a bottle of formula for his last feeding of the day.   I never had a problem with nursing Kenny, but for some reason, I’ve had a rough time keeping up with Cooper.   It’s not like he’s wasting away… he’s nearly 18 pounds and only 5 and a half months!   But by bedtime, there’s just nothing left for me to give.   He’d started  fussing, biting, and then finally giving up and sleeping.   But for the past seven days, I’ve tried a little formula and Viola! he has been sleeping like he used to.   He’s slept through a night a few times, and a few woken up very briefly, but for the most part, things are looking up.   I have no intention of weaning him just yet, but what a relief to know that he’ll take formula and that he does well with it!

So now what to do with all this “free time?”   (ha!   ha ha … ok, that’s a little silly)   Showering would be a great start.   Laundry.   Um, Christmas shopping??   Oh, and I’ve had this blog for two and a half years now, and for the first time I’ve nearly completely neglected it.   Do I hear a New Year’s Resolution popping up?

I really do love writing, and reading and the whole blogging hobby, but I have to admit that it seems a silly indulgence when so much else has fallen under the horse in my little world.   Man, two kids is so much different than one!

Here are some nutshell updates of my boys:

Kenny – RASCAL.   Ah, but sweeter than sweet 90% of the time, so he certainly makes amends for the violent couch jumping, Dudley riding and constant re-hanging of the Christmas tree ornaments.   On Saturday, we had a little party over here, and just as everyone was leaving, he fell out of his chair and hit the side of his face on  the table.   We thought he broke his tooth, and our angel dentist came in at 9 at night to take a look.   Turns out that the force of the impact forced his gum over his tooth and that’s why it looked like half of it was gone.   Yuk.   Now he’s got a big bruised knot on the side of his face – he looks like a three-year-old Rocky Balboa.

Cooper – Rolling over, constantly jabbering (“Dadadadadadada, bada daby do dadadadad dadybada!”), learning to suck his thumb and spending his free time in the “hopper popper” seat where he’s happy until all the bouncing makes him poop!   That kid knows how to make a splash in the world.   He’s also loosing his hair – except for the long patch on top which I had to trim last week because it was always in his eyes…. it’s a nice comb-over look, and has definite mohawk-potential, if I ever decided to torture him with hair gel.

Dudley – So needing a walk.   Or a run.   Or someone to pet him for more than 30 seconds.   But he keeps going down to the water and rolling in dead fish and seaweed, so petting him requires a full sanitation routine.

(I don’t know why Dudley felt compelled to charge the camera, but isn’t this a funny shot?)

And me?   hm.   I think I’m not as pretty as I used to be.   Maybe it’s the bags under the eyes?   The slowly wrinkling skin?   The lack of exercise or lack of sleep?   I caught my reflection in the mirror the other day and said, “Wow.   I’ve finally started looking like a harried Mommy.”   Somebody send me to the spa.   Actually, forget the spa.   Somebody watch my kids and clean my house so I can get some sleep.   I really think I’d pay someone a thousand dollars if I could go spend the night alone and sleep for 12 hours.   Ah…

It’s ridiculous how long it’s been since I’ve updated this blog.   Truly, I have become a prisoner of war to Cooper and his two-week-long battle with a vicious cold and ear infection.   The little bugger has. not. slept.   He’s had several nights of two and three hour crying jags, and up so many times inbetween I’ve been lucky to log three hours of straight sleep in any one night.   He was such a good sleeper from the get-go, we never even went through this when he was brand new.   It’s killing me.   I’ve been crashing into bed as soon as he goes down for the night, trying to sneak as much sleep as possible.   All making Mommy a very dull girl.

And there has been so much to write about.   So many tidbits throughout the days that I think – ha!   I’ve got to blog about this.   Then the zombie hours kick in and sitting down in front of the computer seems about as appetizing as eating hair.

Someday soon I hope to be back on the wagon – sleeping normally and invigorated at the opportunity of a life outside trying to get a seventeen pound wiggler to sleep through the night.   Someday.

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to bed I go…

… but pictures I can do!

Cooper at the Siesta Key beach on Thanksgiving day…

Kenny with his big cousin Ryan…

The “daughters-in-law” cleaning the carnage from the Thanksgiving feast, and  looking sassy…

Cooper, out to breakfast and holding court…

Kenny, proving that a 65 degree day is still a beach day…

… and Casey and Kenny in the post-family-photo-shoot sunset…

I haven’t had a chance to download the pictures from the first half of our week in San Francisco yet… I’m still recovering and who knows when I’ll even start unpacking.   But we’re home at last!   Happy Thanksgiving!!

Battle one: to eliminate Kenny’s growing obsession with getting to watch TV every day.   Call?   Victory!   We just completed 11 days of no TV watching, and we celebrated by letting Kenny watch  an episode of Boz while I was busy with Cooper.   Though it took several days of him still begging for a cartoon, the simple answer, “It’s No TV Week!” quelled him and eventually he stopped asking.   Not only that, but he’s been playing 100% better by himself when I’m with Cooper.   He’s back to his imaginary games and looking through picture books and such, and not so much getting into my hair and begging to be entertained.

Battle two: Get Cooper to nap longer than 45 minutes.   Call?   Lost.   Still no napping longer than 30 to 45 minutes, though I have at least moved most of the naps to his bed instead of the swing.   As for letting him go to sleep at naptime on his own, that’s still a failure, too.   Our pediatrician said to let him cry for up to an hour.   So I did, and still no nap.   But I pick him up, jiggle him for a minute and set him in the swing and it’s snooze-ville.   For 45 minutes.

Battle three: Get Cooper back to sleeping through the night.   Call?   So far so good!   I’ve had much better nights since putting him down later (after an evening nap from 8 to 9 or s0, then nursing and putting him down for good at 10), and last night he slept for 10 hours straight.   Yahoo!

Ah, but today was a sleepless one for the Mini Coop.   He took ONE nap (of 45 minutes) and he’s still up.   It’s 8:00 PM now.   Actually, he’s starting to doze on Casey’s chest in front of Monday Night Football.   I’m emotionally wrought, as much of the day was spent listening to him wail and cry… even the jiggles and the swing were no help today.   Hm.   Maybe the 10-hour night was all he needed???   right.

We actually had quite a scare today with Kenny.   We were in the midst of making dinner and Cooper was being such a  pill, I took him upstairs to try again to put him down, and left Kenny downstairs with Casey.   Casey had to take a business call, but Kenny was playing in the room with him, so all was fine.   Until suddenly as I came downstairs and Casey hung up the phone and we both looked at each other and said, “Where’s Kenny?”   We raced through the house, looked outside (Casey had been grilling) and we couldn’t find him or hear him.   Finally, Casey walked into the guest room where our washer and dryer are, and heard a muffled whimper.   Kenny had crawled into the dryer to hide, and managed to shut the door and was stuck.  

Talk about stopping your heart.   He was probably in there no more than three or four minutes, but who knows how long before he would have suffocated??   Casey gave him a huge hug of relief, then a sound spank, which Kenny almost seemed happy to get after his scare.   Then we went over where he is NEVER allowed to hide, and reminded him that when he wants to play hide-and-seek, he needs to make sure that we know he’s hiding.   My heart is still pounding.

And Cooper is wailing again, so off I go…

By the way, my writing will be fairly sporatic over the next two weeks… we are going to California for my grandma’s memorial service, then off to Florida to be with Casey’s family for Thanksgiving.   I don’t know how much computer time I’ll find over the next two weeks, but stay tuned!

Kenny.   My sweet negotiator.   Relentless in his pursuit of winning his way.

I used to let him watch TV (or more accurately a DVD) three or four times a week for no more than 30 minutes, usually while I made dinner.   Then we had Cooper.   I didn’t increase the  length so much  (ok, sometimes I slipped into the hour-long Sesame Street), but it turned into everyday.   Mostly so I could either shower while Cooper took his morning nap without risking Kenny waking him up, or so I could pump milk in the morning without Kenny staring nose-to-nozzle with the pump on my nipple.   Anyway, it had gotten to the point where every morning, Kenny would ask me when he could watch his show from the moment he got up.   Then keep asking me over and over until the allotted time.   Something like this:

K: When can I watch a show?

Me: You can watch Curious George when I take a shower.

K: When are you taking a shower?

Me: At 7:30, when Curious George is on.

K: Can I watch it?

Me: Yes.

K: Is it 7:30 yet?

Me: No.   I’ll tell you when it’s 7:30.

K: When can I watch a show?

And on it would go over and over until the magic hour arrived.   Finally Friday, I cracked.   I said, “Kenny, you can watch Curious George today, and then I’m unplugging the TV for a week.   No more TV!”   And Lo.   A new state of panic settled in.   “But sometimes you let me!” he said over and over the first day.    But, we have successfully completely day three and there has not only been no permanent scarring, but he has started to play better by himself when I can’t be there with him.   Ah.   The TV just may stay unplugged.

Kenny negotiates on everything.   On naptime, mealtime, bedtime, tv time, what to play, where to go, when to go there, and in what order I put he and Cooper into carseats.   If he asks for a snack and I say ok, the bantering begins.   He starts with chocolate cake and I counter with yogurt.   He counters with Goldfish and I respond with Tricuits.   It’s maddening.

(Actually it’s kind of cute when I think about it later when he’s asleep and not chattering in my ear…)

But seriously, I’m making it a goal this week to be firm and clear and consistent and work to break this pattern of constant negotiation.   To paraphrase Dr. Dobson, I will not negotiate with a three-year-old!!   I will prevail!   I will be in charge!

Now if I could only get Cooper to nap longer than 45 minutes at a stretch, I’d be Super-Mom!

I don’t know if I mentioned this in all the chaos for our MommyBlog family in the last two months, but Kenny is completely potty trained.   Finally!   I happened in about two days during all the packing madness – I don’t know if he was looking for some positive attention or what, but he just started doing his business in the toilet and wearing “unders” and having no accidents.   In fact, he even started going without telling us throughout the day.   He will occasionally tell me what he’s going to do, but usually announces it after the fact.   Hurray for Kenny!

Ah, but his timing is sometimes cruel.   Possibly on purpose, but hopefully just coincidentally, he ALWAYS has to poop when I’ve just settled in to nurse Cooper.   He can get in there and go by himself, but still needs help to wipe, so he’ll cheerfully announce, “Mommy!   I have to pooooooop!” and scamper off to the bathroom, then return minutes later, bare-assed and adorable, sing-songing, “Wipe me Mama!”  

It gets worse.

I’ve finally gotten Cooper on a decent nap schedule – in the swing in our bathroom (hey – it’s dark and cool and the exhaust fan is the perfect noise-maker).   He’s been taking four 45 minute naps a day all week… I’m hoping to now move him to his bed, now that he’s getting used to going to sleep at certain times.   Anyway, there is only one bathroom on our second floor where our room and Kenny and Coopers rooms are… and it never fails that just as soon as I get Cooper strapped in the swing and off towards slumber, Kenny opens the door and stage-whispers, “Mommy!   I have to pee pee!   I’ll be reeeeeeaaaaaalllllly quiet!”   And he does an exaggerated tip-toe to the pot and carefully aims his willy, then tip toes out.   Hm.   Someone looking for attention??

Today I realized that my reaction has been pretty consistant, as this time Kenny whispered, “Mommy!   I have to pee pee!   I know, I know: I always have to go when Cooper’s in here, but I just really have to!”

(Speaking of realizing that this kid not only hears everything we say, but thinks about it, this morning, Kenny noticed the news on the TV (which is very rarely on in our house during the day).   He looked at me and said, “Mommy, did Obama win?   I thought you said that ‘Cane would!   Oh my goodness, Mama-bama.”)

Ok, so as soon as I wrote about Cooper not being a good napper, but being a great nighttime sleeper, he decided to show off and have TWO totally sleepless nights in a row.

Not entirely his fault, to be fair.   For one, Casey was out of town, which means that Dudley turns psychotically protective and prowls the house all night, checking on his babies compulsively and he woke up Cooper at least twice with his ear shaking and licking.   Then there is Kenny’s three-week-old cough (allergies) that has been keeping all of us up.   He and Cooper share a room, so I finally brought Kenny in with me last night, but at that point I guess the damage was done.   Cooper was up every hour from then on, desperate to nurse, then vomiting all over me.   I think I’ve logged in eight hours of sleep total for the last two nights.     Not so good.

Does this lack of nighttime slumber cause him to nap more?   Of course not.   Three thirty-minute specials was all I got today again.

Now the exhausted  mini creature is sound asleep (at 7:45, darnit), and you’d better believe I’m waking his cute little baby hiney up in a few hours to drink drink drink.     What’s going on with him?   He’s such a charming, sweet, animated baby when he’s happy, and so miserably cranky when he’s not… it’s like living with a mini Jekel and Hyde.

Thanks to all who commented  for the book references.   Ironically, I own nearly all that were suggested, but they are who-knows-where in as yet unpacked boxes in the garage.   Come to think of it, we were going to unpack the books last, so I may have to buy a few extra copies in the mean time…

Ok, here is the question du jour: How do you let a baby “cry it out” at night when they share a room with an older sibling??   I remember getting to the point of letting Kenny cry at night (he slept through the night very early, but had a few months in there where he was waking up constantly), and just turning off the monitor and compulsively checking on him.   But how can I subject Kenny to the torture of Cooper’s wails?   Do we just let Kenny bunk with us until Cooper learns to put himself back to sleep?   Do we bring Cooper back in our room?   Yikes.

Hm, I just realized that Cooper has never had to put himself to sleep.   I always rock him to sleep.   Bad Mommy.   No wonder he needs me in the wee hours to comfort him.   What have I done?   I also need to wean him off the swaddle.   I stopped swaddling him three weeks ago, and that’s when he started waking up at night (for the first time since 6 weeks), so I resumed the swaddle, but now it seems to make no difference.   Hm.   Maybe tonight no swaddle.   But what if he gets cold?   I can’t just put a blanket on him – that’s a baby no-no.   Maybe an extra set of pj’s?

I’m starting to sound insane.   Excuse me while I go eat some cookie dough…

Kenny with his cousins, pre-tirck-or-treating.

Kenny politely asking his treater, “Does this have any nuts in it??”

Kenny had one of the most fun nights of his life at my sister’s church’s “Trunk or Treat” Halloween party.   Moon bounces and (somewhat unlimited) free candy.   What more does a three-year-old need??

So after I wrote yesterday’s post, I put Cooper to bed at 8:30.   And he was up at 10, 1 and 6.   BUT, thanks to Crisanne, I put him down earlier for his first nap and he slept for nearly an hour and a half, thanks to the advice from __ about the waking after  30 minutes and leaving them alone!   Then I got two more 30 minute ones out of him, and he’s dozing on my shoulder as I write for a pre-bedtime snooze.   Just to prove that as soon as you figure them out, they change.

Keep the comments coming!   Both the advice and the commiseration are much appreciated.   I love reading about what other babies are doing.

Those long-time readers of this blog will remember Kenny’s baby nickname: No Nap Joe.   The kid slept through the night at 7 weeks, but never napped longer than 20 minutes (once or twice a day) from the time he was 8 weeks old until he was 14 months, at which time he settled into a “normal” nap schedule of a two-hour nap everyday after lunch.   (He has all but given up on those naps, but he is three, so I can let them go and instead revel in the wonders of “quiet time.”)

Ah.   But little brother Cooper is following in his brother’s footsteps, and I don’t know how I’m going to make it through another sleepless-in-the-daytime baby.   Cooper isa little better, sometimes hitting 45 minutes of slumber here and there, but it’s usually 20 to 30 minutes and usually only in the front pack, the swing or occasionally the carseat (but only after he’s screamed mercilessly first – again, just like his big brother).   But try to put him in his bed for a nap,   and you’d think I just tried to change his diaper with a cold garden hose.

And just like Kenny, he’s great at night – he goes to bed at 8:30 (yes, I know that’s too early for an almost-4-month-old, but he’s so darn tired!) and wakes sometime between 3 and 5 for a feeding, then sleeps again until 7 or 7:30.   So he’s getting a  lot of nighttime sleep.   And I know at this age he needs an average of 14 hours a day, which he’s not quite getting.   So should I  be stressed?

It’s just that I’m so jealous of my other mommy friends with babies who take 2 two-hour naps a day!   Then I could play with Kenny!   I could blow dry my hair!   I could mop the floor!   I could fold the laundry…   (Casey actually just sat in front of tonight’s World Series game and folded four full loads while I wrote this post!)  

I’ve noticed that many of my readers have little babies at home… what kind of   schedule, (or lack of one) do you have your little one on?   Many of my friends here use Babywise, but I’m not a fan…. it’s worked for some and bombed for others.   I’m torn between just letting go of the fact that he may just be one of those babies, like Kenny, who doesn’t need as much sleep, and enforcing a more rigorous nap schedule – even employing a trial “cry it out” few days.   Let’s face it, I want him on a nap schedule for me, not necessarily because I think he’s sleep-deprived, although he does have times during the day when he’s painfully tired, just refuses to sleep.

I’m babbling.   I sound like the sleep-deprived one!   Ok, readers, let me know what works (or doesn’t!) for you!