To Do...

Why does sleep elude me at 11:54 pm, but at 2:54 pm I was dozing on the couch as my 3 children caused havoc in my house?!?!?!?

I put my head on the pillow about an hour ago. In the three hours prior to that, and since the kids had been put to bed, I attempted to accomplish a lot of stuff. Somewhere in my brain is the belief that if I accomplish a ton of stuff during the evenings, then maybe I won't feel the need to try to get so much done during the day and instead I can just be the fun mommy who plays all the time. But in reality, I just seem to find more that I should be doing during the day.... the list never ends!!

My current projects include:

• weeding the garden and spreading the last bit of mulch that just got dumped there about 2 weeks ago
• sorting out the 30 boxes of left over STUFF in my garage after my less than successful garage sale
• completing about 8 forms for each of the boys to attend summer camp and tracking down all the required information about medical history etc....
• getting the ball rolling on packing for our camping trip, which means digging all the stuff out of storage, seeing what needs batteries, what needs replacing, and figuring out all the menus etc.

I swear I thought of more while I was "trying" to sleep. Of course, there's a bunch of other stuff flying through my head, like: remembering the items I need to buy for the potluck dinner we're going to this weekend, figuring out which kids are going where this weekend so I can move car seats, the destruction of the bathroom we just refinished AGAIN because the sink pipe was leaking and the toilet wasn't seating properly on the pipe (EWWW!). ANd my head just keeps on going.... ANd next to me, lies a snoring husband completely oblivious to all my thinking, stressing, planning, and obsessing!

The question is, now that I've gotten all this out of my head and written down somewhere safely, will I be able to go to sleep??? Or will I just think of 10 more things that I need to do/remember!!!?!?

Informed Decisions

Here I am again, in the late night hours, when my head should be on the pillow. Tonight the fault is my own, and a new blog I've been reading. Over an hour ago, I started reading this post, and all the comments following it....and here I am, unable to sleep.

[There are so many levels to this conversation and points that have been made that are swirling around in my brain. I will have to come back to this point another night and go down the other paths.]

Car seat safety is important to me. VERY important. Quite often I contemplate saying something to a parent who I see using (what seems to me) an improper car seat, or not using one at all, or using one incorrectly. Just today during swim class, I contemplated (for the 5th week) telling a mom that her son was too tall for his infant seat, and that the belt was no where near tight enough to restrain him in the event of a crash.

But now I've read the previously mentioned post, I wonder if I did the right thing by not saying anything. First of all, I'm not known for my tact (in fact, I might be known for my lack thereof at times). What don't I know about this parent? Maybe they tighten up the buckle when they put the seat in the car. Maybe they use the infant seat because they can't afford the next size seat or they are waiting for one to be donated to them. Maybe she keeps meaning to go buy the next one but it's hard to get out to the store with two young kids. Maybe it's just easier to use the seat to carry him in to swim lessons (and this was the last week) and now that it's over she'll move him up to the next one. Maybe if I say something to her, she'll feel like yet another mother is judging her and she'll react with anger (or worse!). BUT maybe she has no idea that he's not as safe as he could be and would welcome the information.

It's that last maybe that tempts me to say something, but the one just before that scares me into silence.

I guess if you are making an INFORMED decision it's different. For example, I didn't realize when I moved Trevor to a forward-facing seat at 15 months (and 20 pounds) that I had any other choice. My pediatrician said I could turn him around. So I did. Now I know that it's safer for Izzy to stay rear-facing until she's at least 2, and 35 pounds (based on my car seat). Likewise, I've learned that T & B are both MUCH safer in a 5-point harness, so that's where they will stay (no matter how UNCOOL Trevor thinks it is compared to some of his school buddies!).

BUT...I had to find this information out on my own. By doing the research and reading and talking to experts (who also happens to be a friend!). It wasn't information that was given to me at the hospital, or the pediatrician's office, or anywhere else. It's very hard information to find if you don't know where to look. And how are you even supposed to know to look??!??! I mean if your pediatrician (a person with a higher education) tells you its safe to turn the car seat around, why wouldn't you believe them?

The lack of information really concerns me in this area.... People are told rear-face your child until they are 1 year old; they see booster seats for children who weigh 30 pounds' so they think those are the best/only choice. But it's not.

I can understand that it's not my right to make the decision for you, or my right to judge you for the decisions you have made (I'll try not to at least, but I'm still working on that one!). But I want to help you make the best decision for your child and make sure you have all the information before you make that decision. Is that wrong of me? Is it wrong that I want to help keep a child safe because they can't make those decisions on their own??

And the Dr said...

Today was Izzy's 2-month check-up. But before we get to that, let's briefly recap last nights events....

Last night, Izzy and I attended a baby shower for a friend who is due in a few weeks. This was a gathering of my online mom's group of friends, and many wanted to meet Izzy for the first time. She was dressed to kill (in one of her many fabulous outfits) and she ate just before we left, and therefore she was in a GREAT mood. She was wide-eyed, alert, and more than ready to play "pass the baby". She let everyone and anyone hold her! And only complained twice in 3.5 hours that she was hungry (she likes to cluster feed at night to get ready for bed).

So she ate at 6, 7:30 and 8:45. At 9:30 we headed home. I had changed her into a clean diaper and jammies, and had high hopes that a 20 minute car ride home would put her to sleep and then I could either a)transfer her to her crib, or b) but her car seat in her bedroom and just leave her there! We arrived home, and there was miss bright-eyes wide awake! So she said hi to Daddy, and then demanded another feeding. But still, as I fed her I thought, okay this is it for the night, she'll fall asleep and I'll put her in bed. Nope... not sleeping! At this point she was awake for about 4+ hours straight!!! Geez kid...

Regardless, I tried putting her to bed, knowing she was tired. But that's not how Iz likes to fall asleep....she likes to move, either in swing or car or vibrating bouncy seat. So that didn't go well. Both Daddy and I tried rocking and swinging and dancing with her to get her to sleep but no dice. Heck, we tried moving the swing up to her room and letting her sleep there. Nope. No sleeping, and at that point she didn't want to be held either. So we left her there in her crib to cry... at midnight she passed out from exhaustion (I think)! And slept til 4:30.

Lessons learned:

• she can go 6.5 hours beteween feedings!
• she can scream for 2 hours before falling asleep!

Hopefuly we can get to a point where we sleep for 6.5 hours and skip the 2 hours of screaming. Then I would be a happy mommy!!

As for the Dr visit... Izzy is growing just fine. She's in the 25th percentile for everything. She weighs 9 lbs 13 oz, she's 22 inches long, and her head is 14 7/8 inches. Just fine.

I asked the Dr about the dairy issue, and much as I expected, he confirmed there is no real test for this issue, and that his advice at the time of the rash would have been to cut out dairy! (Yay me, $$$ saved on a dr visit I didn't make!). He also informed me that babies intestinal tracts are not fully developed until 6 months, so at that point she may be far more tolerant to dairy!

Not much else to report from the Dr visit. She got her first 2 vaccinations....and she took them like a pro. She seems to be sleeping most of the day away, but if I'd gotten a bunch of shots, and then Tylenol, I would too. It's fine with me, as long as she sleeps tonight!!

Five (5)

There are five people in this family. There are five bedrooms in my house. Simple math right.... 5 divided by 5 equals 1. One person per room. Okay, so hubby and I share a room (now that I'm not preggo!) so that's 1 empty room. The boys share a room, so that's 2 empty rooms. And for the moment, Izzy shares a room with us, but eventually she'll move to the nursery. So that's 3 empty rooms... right???

Do you know how many people went to sleep in my room? 3...three that belonged there. And do you know how many woke up there? 5. Because between midnight and 3 am, something happened (was there a full moon?). First Blake woke up upset....who knows why. He eventually decided he wanted to sleep downstairs (after watching a short movie!), so he did.

As I went back to bed, Izzy woke up to eat. I finished feeding her, and went back to bed.... for 15 minutes. Then Blake was awake again, not happy at being the only person downstairs (I warned ya buddy!), so he decided to sleep on the floor by our bed in the master. Fine with me.... (it's been ages since we've let either of them sleep in the bed with us, as we got into a REAL power struggle with Trevor over it for a while). If they are desperate enough to be willing to sleep on the floor, well come on in then.... but my bed is for me....your bed is for you! Sorry, I need and LIKE my sleep (and I don't sleep well with kids in the bed!).

About an hour later, I hear T making noise in his room. So I send Steve in to deal with it.... I'm too tired! I hear the tell-tale signs of a bloody nose, so I join them in the bathroom and help calm T down and wait out the nose bleed. He gets them all the time during the night, knows what to do and how to handle them, but depending on what phase of sleep he's in when it hits, it sometimes leads to a very sad Trevor. This was one of those nights.... he was inconsolable! Eventually, it stopped, and he calmed down. And he too joined the slumber party in our bedroom on the floor.

So, five people + five bedrooms = five people in one bedroom! On the plus side, Izzy slept from then until 6 am. Didn't fuss loud enough to wake the boys, and they slept until 8:30 or so! (Much better than the usual 6:30 or 7 am at the latest!!!)

Pennies

Tonight, I made 2 cents from my son. Yup, I got 2 pennies from a 2 year old. Pretty cool!! At this rate, I can buy a can of pop (yes, I call it pop, after being in IL for 15 years) at the end of next month!!

Seriously.... About a month ago, after bunking the boys together, I realized how much time I was spending going back and forth to their room after bed time, asking/telling them to go to bed and be quiet. Back and forth I would go... yelling would increase, kids would not be asleep, I would be stressed (to say the least).

So I borrowed an idea from a friend, and it saved my sanity. It goes like this... Each child gets three pennies at bed time. Each time they call out for something, have to be talked to/yelled at for misbehaving, etc. they lose a penny. So, three strikes and they're out (not sure what happens if they run out and are still bad.... hasn't happened yet!). Any remaining money in the morning, is their's and goes in the piggy bank. After explaining this, the first night was a breeze. We read stories, set out their pennies, said good night, and that was it. The next time I checked on them, they were down for the count!! My sanity cost $0.06!!!

Well, the novelty has worn off a little, and we've lost some pennies here and there, but for the most part, the idea still works. Trevor is a little money hungry and can't handle ANYONE taking his money. He is, however, more than willing to tattle on his little bro' and try to get extra money!!!

Tonight, a new variation. Off to bed at 8:15, with 3 pennies each. Trevor asleep by about 8:45, no issues. Blake still awake at 9:45. He's been good and quiet, but consistently saying he doesn't want to go to sleep (even if it means he can't go to the zoo tomorrow!). So, at 9:45 Daddy goes to check on him, and the "No!" fest starts. No, I don't wanna go to bed. No, No, NO... to everything. They're sitting in the hallway having a nice little conversation. Then...

Blake: "I wanna go see Mommy."
Daddy: "No, it's bed time."
Blake: "I want Mommy."
Daddy: "Sorry, it's bed time."
Blake: "I give you penny to go see Mommy?"
Daddy: "Okay."

So Blake pays up, and comes to visit me. Happy Boy!!

A few minutes later (how long did you think a penny was gonna get ya?) and Daddy says it's bed time. Again they argue, with tears and fits on the floor this time. Finally, Blake says, "I sleep in Mommy's room? I give you penny!". Daddy says yes, and Blake practially skips over to get the penny, gives it to Steve, and runs to our room!!! Ah, what a penny will get you these days!!

After about 30 minutes on our floor (in the dark), with pillow, blanket, and Elmo, he just decided he wants to go back to his bed. Daddy said sure, and off he went to his own room. I hope he doesn't want that penny back!!!