Thursday, September 16, 2010

Last night

9:30pm: I arrive home from my digital photography class (an attempt to do something for myself, not focused on small children, although indirectly it is, since I hope to improve the pictures that I take of my children).

10:00pm: I take care of the things I would have done that evening had I been home (pump since I missed bedtime, laundry, pack lunch, etc.)

10:30pm: Katy wakes up screaming, having a night terror, as she has done every night for the past few weeks. It makes sense, because she does it when she's overtired, and she hasn't taken a nap in 3 weeks and she's been waking up earlier with David in her room. But they are painful, as she is crying, disoriented, calling for Mommy, and it lasts about 20 minutes. (David sleeps through the whole thing)

11:30pm: I crash into bed.

3:30am: Luke wakes up. I go in and feed him and try to soothe him back to sleep.

4:30am: After several attempts, he is still awake, so I nudge Brian and ask him to take a turn. He finally gets him back down.

5:15am: I hear a voice calling me from Katy and David's room. I go in and find David standing in his crib, as if it's time to get up. I tell him, "It's still nighttime," and lay him back down. Mercifully, he goes back to sleep. (Katy sleeps through this as well)

6:20am: I vaguely remember Brian telling me to turn off the alarm.

7:20am: Brian alerts me to the fact that all 5 of us are still sleeping, and it's a work/school day. We drag ourselves out of bed and the kids all wake up shortly thereafter.

9:00am: Somehow, by God's grace, I still get Katy to school on time, although we're all a little bleary eyed.

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Despite these hiccups, I think the room transition is going really well. I'm astonished at the talking/crying/waking that can happen in the room without the other one waking up. And sleeping past 7 this morning is a huge step, I think. We're getting there.

As I put David into his crib for nap yesterday, he asked me why he was still sleeping in Katy's room. I felt terribly that maybe I hadn't explained it well to him, so I sat him down and said, "This is your room now, too! Luke is sleeping in your old room, because it is for babies. This is where big kids sleep, you and Katy - in David and Katy's room!" He had the biggest grin on his face and now keeps telling me that he's a big boy. Maybe I could use this motivation toward potty training, too? How many changes can we handle in one week?

5 comments:

Oma Froehle said...

You are making HUGE strides after 3 nights!! OBTW, the "big boy/girl" thing is a major tool in the Mommy kit. :-)

In a week or so, David will forget he ever slept in the baby room and Katy may actually come to take some comfort in having a room-mate when she wakes up at night.

Monday night I was talking to a friend who has two little boys almost exactly Katy and David's age. She has them in the same room and was commenting (unsolicited by me) that she had another room but thought they enjoyed each others company and was leaving them together.

Weed said...

Oh my....nights like that are the worst, aren't they? I'm glad Katy and David are doing well together, though. I didn't notice any bleary eyes this morning, though, so you hid them well! :)

Jen said...

EM! The best compliment I can EVER give Will is that he is a big boy or is doing grown up things. It's worked for chores, homework - just about everything!! Hugs to you and your fam!

Anonymous said...

Whew. I can relate. Sleep? What's that. A distant memory perhaps...
~Charity

p.s. miss you guys!

Kelsey said...

Oh Harper has night terrors as well, but they used to be much more frequent (probably when she was about Katy's age, actually). If I'm sleeping when it happens it always scares the poop out of me.