So we have been planning to put kate in big kid underwear starting Monday, but this morning she begged me to let her wear them, so we started today.  So far, so good...a couple of accidents, but most importantly, she has a happy heart!  Keep you posted...

Ok, Audrey's night waking is really wearing me out.  This is really different that what Kate did so I am not sure how to handle it.  Here's what's up:

• About every 45 minutes to an hour, she starts to cry, but in a monotone, yelling kind of way, for about 5 minutes.
• Sleeping position does not seem to matter.
• She never truly wakes up, unless it's the daytime and there's stuff going on, or at 5:30ish for her first feeding.
• It's loud enough that it wakes us up every time.
• She doesn't usually need help settling down again, probably because she is really still asleep, but if she does wake up and get frantic her cries change.  She can be resettled easily with a pat and maybe the paci.
• She doesn't do it when sleeping in my bed with me, or on my chest for a nap, or in the car.
• She doesn't seem sleep deprived in the least - that's just me. She is super happy and eating well, and easy to put to bed.
• It's ALL STINKIN' NIGHT LONG.

I've heard of the "45-minute intruder" thing, where babies cry to change sleep cycles, and it is tempting to think that they are truly awake.  Some people equate that with not nursing enough, but she still nurses 7-8 times daily plus two cereal feedings, so SURELY that is not the problem.  Maybe this is a sleep-cycle related thing, but how do I deal with it?  I don't want to leave the monitor off entirely.  My first plan of action is to buy her a white noise machine, in hopes that it will help her sleep more deeply, or drown out the cries a little bit so I don't wake up so easily.

I just want to know if I am doing anything wrong, or if this is just a phase.  Any suggestions?

 

Man, we're sleep deprived around here.  Audrey has been waking up hourly during the night because of a cold.  She doesn't need help going back to sleep, but she is loud enough that it wakes me up every time.  This has been going on for a few days.

But finally, here is a picture of Audrey at 4 months:

 

Kate's preschool pix coming soon, flickr is having trouble.  She's been doing great at school.  Potty training has plateaued, but her teacher and I have a plan.  In a couple of weeks (let her get a little more used to school first) we're going to go cold turkey with the pullups.  Pray for me.  I know I'm going to have a lot of fits and messes to deal with.  But any child that can hold it ALL THE WAY TO OKLAHOMA has no excuse still being in pullups!  (except that her mother continues to buy them for her)

Kate: "Mommy, I read you a Bible story."  (runs over holding a free book from Sonic about animals)

"Ok, what is the story?"

"Jesus and the Ark."

"What is that one about?"

"When all of the animals fell in the ocean and died."

(a little shocked) "Do you mean Noah's Ark?  And maybe the other story about when the horses and riders fell into the sea?"

(miffed) "NO.  I reading the story, Mommy.  Look, here's a picture of Jesus Christ the Yord."  (points to cartoon dude in the cheapo Sonic book)

It went downhill from there.  I couldn't hold back the laughter, so I faked a coughing fit, but she wasn't fooled.  She gave up and went to do something else.

 

1/3 of a year!  Some Audrey facts:

• 13 lb (75%), 24 3/4 in (75%), head circ. 41 cm (50%)
• Rolling over from back to tummy
• Pushing up on her arms
• Bears weight on legs, when you hold her in standing position - she loves this
• Still nursing 8 times daily
• Sleeps 9 hours at night, only waking for a 5:30 am feeding
• Takes two big naps, morning for an hour or so, and afternoon for 2 hours, with occasional catnaps during the day

Stuff she does:

• Plays on the floor a lot, rolling around and grabbing at toys
• Puts everything in her mouth
• "Sings"
• Loves her bedtime routine - she gets really fussy about 9:30 pm so I know she's ready to go to bed soon.  When I take her into her room, she gets so excited, and laughs when I change her diaper and put her pj's on.
• Fascinated with her feet, especially with brightly colored socks and shoes on
• Cries when you take away her favorite toys (Buzz or the Sense-ations book), or if they fall out of reach
• Drools EVERYWHERE
• Is wigglier than ever!

I'll get a picture up eventually.  :)

Scenario:  A child has two toy cars.

Fictional Boy child: "Vroom vroom!  Budn budn!  Beep beep!  Honk!  Crash!  Ugh!  PGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!" (crashes cars together violently)

Girl child (aka Kate):  "Hi, I'm Luigi!  Hi, I'm Doc Hudson!  I like your door!  What a cute door!  I like your door too!  That's pretty awesome.  Want to go to the beach?  Ok!  Let's build a sand castle!  Do you like sand castles?  Are you thirsty?  I have some tasty lemonade..." (cars saunter away)

It's Tuesday, aka ReaLife group day, aka Cleaning Day.  So in the spirit of housework, I submit to you my method of self-motivation, or What Keeps Me From Just Sitting On The Couch Instead of Cleaning.

TV.

That's right, TV.  Not as a reward for cleaning, but as a motivator.  Here's how it works:

Problem:  Clutter.  Show: Clean Sweep, on TLC.  A crew of people clean two highly cluttered rooms out of some poor slob's house, make them sort it all, sell some in a garage sale, throw lots away, and give away the rest.  Result:  I pick a pile and get cracking.

Problem:  General unsanitary conditions.  Show: How Clean is Your House, on BBC.  Two very British ladies help the filthiest people clean up their home, and they swab and test samples from around the house to very disgusting ends.  Result:  I clean the kitchen and bathroom with bleach and a toothbrush.

Problem: The closet.  Show:  What Not To Wear.  Two snarky people criticize ordinary schlub's wardrobe and make them throw it all away, then give them money and tips to buy a new one.  Result:  No new wardrobe, but this always makes me want to clean out drawers.

Now of course I can't get all this done in one week.  So I pick one or two obsessive things to do per cleaning day, on top of all of the regular cleaning.  Today it was scrubbing the spots on the stairs, vacuuming the blinds, and bleaching the door from the garage into the laundry room, which has some kind of weird mold on it.  So maybe I still have dirty dishes in the sink, but darned if the dog doesn't have a clean door.

Now, for a little bit of culture.  Some still-life art from the great artist Katelyn The Pie.

Dog With Bracelets

Yarn-Ball Band with Ladybug and Assorted Puzzle Pieces

A dearth of blogging lately...sorry...but here's a tidbit:  Audrey rolled over yesterday, from her back to her tummy!  She now just can't stop doing it.  She is 15 weeks old tomorrow.  Yay!

 

This is her after rolling over for the 3rd time. She worked so hard at it her pants are slipping down!

I'm so proud of myself!

Just a little update on Kate's potty training:  today, she only had ONE WET PULLUP ALL DAY.  One.  Uno.  Un.  And it was during dinner.  She was dry this morning, after nap, you name it.  She willingly went to the potty all day long.  It has literally been months since we have had such a successful day with the potty!  Now I'm going to screw it all up again by taking her to the pool tomorrow!

Today's success gave me a glimmer of hope once again that she will eventually be fully trained.  We had lots of other challenges today, but I was so glad to not have to have those potty battles.  They are getting really old!  She starts preschool in a few weeks and I imagine that the peer pressure will be helpful in encouraging her to finish training.  She'll be at FBC Georgetown, which is kind of a drive, but it sounds like a great place. 

 

Oh, and isn't she just gorgeous?