Sleep

Going Cold Turkey

May 15, 2012

in growing up,Motherhood,Sleep

For the past four and half years, this has been her “go to” position for comfort. 

fingers in mouth

As a baby it was great… she totally self soothed… no pacifiers to chase down or beloved blankey to snuggle.  Just pop her index and middle fingers in her mouth backwards and start rubbing her ear (or twirling her hair) and she could instantly calm herself to sleep. 

We knew of course this would have it’s trade off.  We knew that the cost for an easy night sleep would pay its dues when it came time to break her of the habit.  Because unlike the pacifiers her older siblings used, you can’t exactly throw away her fingers when you want her to stop sucking them. 

And so, we put forth our best efforts to rally a campaign of no more finger sucking at age 3….

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which then became age 4….

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So, here we are, almost 2 months from her fifth birthday and she’s still sucking her fingers in the car, when she’s falling asleep, and when she’s snuggling on the couch….

Until this weekend….

At around 10pm Thursday night as we were driving to my SIL’s in Va, I hear here say to herself in the back of the van… “Look at me not putting my fingers in my mouth.  I AM NOT PUTTING MY FINGERS IN MY MOUTH”  We of course affirmed and praised this decision of hers. 

Next day, “Guess what?  I didn’t put my fingers in my mouth, the whole way to Aunt Karen and Uncle Jim’s or all last night or this morning in the van.” 

Every now and then, when she was tempted to put them in her mouth, she’d proclaim, “Here I am not putting my fingers in my mouth.”

This was the most telling to me, because I knew it meant she was making a conscious decision not to put them in her mouth.  For whatever reason she decided she wasn’t going to do it anymore. 

And we praised her for it and I promised to paint her nails when we got home on Saturday night if she kept them out of her mouth. 

Saturday night I painted her nails… 5 bright shades of fantastic with a top coat of glitter!!!

So, you can see all it took was 2 years of nagging her finally coming to the decision on her own to stop doing it and she broke the habit.  Cold Turkey!

I’m pretty sure this says something about her will and personality and the *fun* we’re going to have when the teen years arrive…

{ 5 comments }

Brothers…

April 5, 2012

in brothers,growing up,Sleep

It’s been really neat to watch the bond between my oldest and youngest.   Our baby was the answer to his older brothers prayers, as he longed to have a little brother.  I’ll never forget the look of pure joy when he found out he finally had a baby brother.   I know he can’t wait for the day when they can truly play together, but for now it is so neat to see the love between them blossom. 

Last night was proof that the love flows both ways.  The baby is used to falling asleep at night with his big brother on the bed across the room reading his book.   Last night, however, his big brother spent the night at a friends house.  So, when we put the obviously tired baby into his crib, he had his baby, his pacifier, light on, door closed…but no big brother across the room. 

When we walked out of the room, he was quiet for awhile.  Then he started crying… truly crying.  This is something he never really does when we put him down.  Typically, we put him to sleep and he will just lay quietly in his crib until he falls asleep.   I went back after awhile to see if maybe he lost his pacifier or something.  But, no he had everything he needed, yet he was crying.  After taking him out for a drink and laying him back down, he again started crying, REALLY CRYING. 

We both suspected it had something to do with the big brother missing from the bed beside him. 

So, Scott laid him down on his brothers bed.  He snuggled up and fell fast and sound asleep… for the entire night. 

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It was his first night not sleeping in his crib…

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sleeping soundly in his big brother’s bed…IMG_3299

It simply melts my heart…

{ 4 comments }

Hug and Roll

March 2, 2012

in Sleep

My youngest often wakes up early in the morning… you know that tricky hour of the day when it isn’t yet time for anyone to be awake but yet close enough to morning that if you let him cry it out a bit they’ll probably wake up and it’s way earlier than you want more than one child up seeing as it’s earlier than you even want to be up.  You know that time of the night/morning?

So, when this happens, I grab my lil man and bring him into bed.  He is my snuggler.  And by snuggler, I mean, wrap his sweet lil arms around your neck and lay his head on your chest and fall asleep.  Or, sit beside you and lay his head on top of your face and fall asleep.  Sometimes he’ll lay snuggled in the middle of us with one or both of us putting our arm around him. 

This of course means that we almost always end up staying in bed longer than we originally planned.   Because if your already not an early riser by nature, think of how much harder it is to get up with your sweet lil baby sleeping on top of you. 

Sometimes, however, there is not choice but to risk disrupting him and get out of bed.  And when that happens I always, always find myself thinking of that episode of Friends where Chandler Bing learns Ross’s “Hug and Roll technique”.   

{ 2 comments }

Behind Closed Doors

February 24, 2012

in brothers,reading,siblings,Sleep

I am convinced that some of the best bonding between my kids takes place after we kiss them goodnight and shut the door.  The policy in our house has been that they can talk in bed (or in their drawers) as long as they are quiet and stay laying down.  (no jumping off the bed or playing with toys) The giggles and chattering drifting down the hall are some of my most cherished sounds.  In fact, it was during one of these “behind closed doors chats” that my son led his younger sister to the Lord.  She told me one day that she knew she was a Christian because she had prayed with her brother one night asking God to forgive her of her sins and be her Savior. 

So, naturally, when my oldest son moved out of the room he’d shared with his sisters for 4 years in order to share a room with his little brother, it was a bittersweet moment at the circus.

But, I think in the past year since that happened the bond of friendship between the girls has grown.  AND a genuine love of reading has transpired in my oldest sons life, as well, as a unique bond of brotherhood between the boys. 

IMG_1996When he moved into his brothers room, we knew the late night talking would cease for awhile.  But, we told him, you may stay up and read in your bed.   I had no idea at the time the hours of reading that would transpire with this new arrangement.   It is not unusual for me to have to go back and tell him lights out at 11:00.  In fact last Friday, he was beyond excited because he had managed to stay up until midnight! 

It’s a cute little arrangement that has taken place.  My youngest will contentedly lay in his crib falling asleep watching his big brother reading.  It doesn’t bother him to have the light on, or to fall asleep with someone else in the room.  In fact, I dare you to try to put him to sleep at night without his brother there. 

Last night we told the kids to get ready for bed and we went down the hall to find this. 

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He sat there so quietly, so contently that we ended up leaving him there for awhile before going back and moving him to his crib.   IMG_2169

When I was taking my Elem Education classes in college, I learned that reading in front of your children is crucial to develop a life long love of reading.  They need to see that you too enjoy reading and it just isn’t something you do because you have to.  I can only imagine growing up watching his big brother read for hours every night, will have a similarly positive effect on him. 

{ 4 comments }

Sisters Sleeping Side by Side

February 6, 2012

in sisters,Sleep

More times than not, when I peek in on my girls before heading to bed, I find them sleeping together. 

Sometimes this means they are both down on the bottom bunk.

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Sometimes, it means they are side by side in their drawers (truthfully I find them like this almost as often as I find them in the bottom bunk). 

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Sometimes they are both on the floor.  (haven’t found them like that in the last 2 weeks)

And once, last week, I even found them side by side in the same drawer.  IMG_1430

As I peek in on them snuggled up together, it gives me hope that as they grow, they’ll share secrets, slumber parties, and hopefully a life long friendship, side by side….

{ 5 comments }

Flashbacks

January 18, 2012

in Sleep,sleep folded in half

Every now and then, when I peek in on my oldest daughter before going to sleep, I’ll see something which instantly takes me back to her infancy. almost 6

And even though she’ll be 6 in a few short weeks, I see her as this sweet little 8 month old in her crib, sleeping folded in half. 

8 mths

I’ll remember how she used to sleep like this every.single night… and suddenly all these pictures of her sleeping like this pass through my mind like a slide show. 

14 mths

17 mths

3 and a half

5 years

Pack-n-play, hospital hooked up to IVs, crib, toddler bed, bottom bunk, top bunk… she’s done it ever where.  It’s her classic sleeping position.  And it makes me smile every.single.time.  Sweet dreams my little girl!

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