I write these little updates as much for myself, to keep a record, to have it straight in my head, to think things through. But I suppose other people like looking over my shoulder and feeling they aren’t alone in fighting the sleep battles and illnesses. And I’ll throw in some cute pictures I took this morning before the kids got dressed.
Health
It continues to be a roller coaster ride. It feels like we’ve never really all been well since we had the flu last fall.
Ben
Last Saturday and Sunday nights Ben woke in the middle of the night with a fever. So Monday we took him to the doctor and it turned out that he has an ear infection too. So now he’s taking Amoxycillan too. And it doesn’t seem to be sitting well on his stomach, poor guy. He’s had diarrhea the past few days and diaper rash to go with it.
Sophie
On Thursday Sophie had her two-year checkup. She has grown two inches since her 18 month visit. The doctor was very tickled to hear that she loves curry.
Bella
Thursday night Bella declared at 6 pm that she was tired. She went and got her pajamas on and brushed her teeth all by herself and she crawled into bed and was out before we’d even begun bedtime prayers. She’s been sleepy every day since then, taking naps and wanting to go to bed early.
Today after she came back from Home Depot with Dom she grabbed her pillow and quilt and camped out on the laundry room floor and went to sleep. (When I asked why the laundry room rather than the living room or the office she replied, “It’s perfect.” When I asked why it was perfect she explained that the living room is noisy with people talking and things beeping.
When she woke up from her nap she was running a fever so I gave her some Ibuprofen. She perked up after that. But still put on her pajamas on her own wih no prompting and was asleep before 8.
Sleep:
Tonight: all three children were in bed, asleep at 8pm. This is unheard of. I don’t know what to do with myself.
On Tuesday night I was tired and a little desperate. After nursing Ben for a while he was done and obviously tired and yet not going to sleep. I put him down in his bed and closed the door all but a crack and went to the bathroom. He cried for less than five minutes and then went to sleep. And slept until after I’d gone to bed. Wednesday night I put him down awake again and he cried for less than a minute. Thursday night and Friday night he cried until I shut the door and then was quiet.
He’s still waking up within a half-hour of my going to bed. And is up and down every hour or two thereafter. I think he will probably do that as long as he is in the same room as me. I wish he’d give me at least three hours of sleep at a stretch, I’m feeling the frequent wake ups; but at least I have my evenings free again to spend time with Dom, to write and read and maybe watch a tv show or two.
I’ve also started putting Ben down for naps while he’s still awake. That’s been as successful as at night. He’s taken several two-hour naps in the past few days. Oh it’s been nice. This afternoon we were able to move the refrigerator and clean behind it and underneath it. (For the first time since we bought it in November of 08 when we moved in.)
After a run of several nights in a row with no wake ups, the girls have gone back to waking up once or twice or three times a night. Last night Bella was so tired she forgot to use the bathroom before bed and so she had an overflowing pull up and wet sheets. She’s also still getting Dom up to help her find lost sippy cups and pillows. So today at Home Depot he got her a little nightlight with a switch on it and plugged it in at the head of her bed so that she can turn it on when she can’t find an object in her bed. Of course, she turned it on tonight because she couldn’t find her tissue while I was still trying to get Sophie to fall asleep. It may not be such a brilliant solution to the problem if it wakes Sophie up or keeps her from falling asleep.
