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?

Night 1

So last night we made the switch. Katy ran around all day yesterday saying, "We're going to have a sleepover tonight! Me and David! And we're going to keep doing it again and again and again..." I told her it was only for a while, and she asked how many nights. I said maybe until she's five, and she said, "That's a lot of nights!" It's true.

Overall it was a success. Bedtime went smoothly and it only took Katy and David 20-30 minutes to fall asleep. We were cracking up listening to their conversation over the monitor: "Taytee, I see monter! (monster)" "No, David, that's just a lamp. Do you need a drink of water from your water bottle?" "Yes!" Luke went right to sleep in the nursery and we were in business. It felt great to brush our teeth as loudly as we wanted in our own room.

I was excited that Luke slept all the way until 5:30 before waking up (he's been getting up closer to 2 or 3 for the past week), but then I couldn't get him back to sleep after he ate. Katy must have heard him because she woke up and started talking to David, so the entire family was awake at 5:45. That's such an ungodly hour, isn't it? The difference between 5:30 and 6 feels longer than 30 minutes.

But I'm optimistic: maybe after the novelty wears off, we'll go back to our usual schedule?

(And Katy still didn't nap today - after being cranky all morning. I think the nap is really gone this time.)

Ode to MiniVans

I saw an article in the paper today about the downfall of minivans. It said that sales of minivans in this country peaked in 1995 and have gradually fallen ever since, and that automotive companies are scrambling to keep them selling, leading to ads like this: (if you have not watched this Swagger Wagon video, it's really worth two and a half minutes of your time),

But the article leaves me a little confused. We have had a minivan for our entire marriage (Brian uses it more like a covered truck in addition to hauling children). And in just the past 12 months among my good friends: Kate and Wendy bought the same make and model, Stephanie gave in after saying she'd never get one, Sarah finally convinced her husband, Pam bought one and wishes she had done it sooner, and now Abigail is in the market. And you should see the parking lot at the preschool.

Brian also accuses me of having minivan envy. Everytime one of my friends gets a new van, I'm telling him, "So and so's van has this, and such and such's van does that." But I love our old van, and I hope it holds on for a few more years.

So I guess my corner of the world is very small, because where I come from, the minivan isn't going anywhere.