Sleep Wars

It's like de ja vu.  I went through this battle with Cal and we are going through it now again with Andy.  Those of you who have read the blog for a long time might remember my constant posts of frustration... they are baaaaackkkk!!!  (Just kidding...I'll try not to post about this too much...)

Sweet little guy was sleeping through the night until just before Halloween when we took a trip to Texas- that little bit of traveling really threw him off and he was up in the night again.  Now, he only gets up once-- usually around 3-- and will eat and be back down again in 15-20 minutes.  Sometimes he is up for longer than that, but typically, I can get him back down pretty quickly. 

Last week, he was up for a few hours in the night and I decided it was time to try the ol' cry it out technique that I was preaching about before our Texas trip. 

Well, the first time he was crying, his screams were awful, so I went in to check on him after 20 minutes and he was soaked-- completely wet. I felt like the world's worst mother,  letting my soaking wet kid cry it out! So, I quickly changed him, and sat down to nurse him. Cal had problems with this too when we were starting this process with him.  I upped Andy's over night diaper size (he and Cal are now wearing the same size over night diapers-ha!), and hoped it would help.

The next night, he was crying it out, and he was getting louder and louder.  I was worried that he was soaked again, so I went in after about 10 minutes and he had a poopy diaper... again, I felt terrible for letting him cry while sitting in his own mess! Again, quick change and nurse...

Well, this pattern kept happening: I would be determined to let him cry it out and then something would happen: he was soaked (the over nights are not helpings), he pooped, or, one night, he had his arm stuck between the crib and the wall.  Talk about feeling terrible!

Last night I had dinner with a bunch of friends and we got to talking about me getting up every night around 3 and then having a really hard time falling back asleep.  One girl in the group is a self-proclaimed sleep nazi and she started coaching me through it.  I know I can do the cry it out method-- I have done it before...with BOTH kids!  I also know it is really hard the first few nights and then it's over and done...

so last night, I was ready.  BRING IT ON.

Andy woke up at 1:30, which is a little early for him.  I went in to check on him, and his diaper was soaked (side note-- how on earth is his diaper getting so filled in that few hours??  Is it because he sleeps on his tummy and it pushes it all out?).  I changed him, without saying one word, as per the sleep nazi, and then put him back in his crib.  He was  mad.  Ohhhh, buddy was he mad.  He screamed for about 15 minutes and then fell asleep.  I thought it was a miracle.  I rolled over, snuggled my pillow and got ready to zonk out. 

Welllll, 15 minutes later, he woke up suuuuuuuuper mad.  His screams were LOUD and he wasn't giving in.  He was HOT mad!  I let him go for about 20 minutes, then went in and patted his back and gave him a paci-- this made him even madder.  I left and came back in another 20 minutes later to try to calm him down and he was really upset, but I was determined!  I turned on his little projector box thingy that puts images on the ceiling, hoping that would distract him into falling asleep.  No luck. 

This routine went on- with him never stopping to even catch his breath- for 2 hours.  I was exhausted.  I think the hardest part is knowing that if I just go feed him, he will be out in 15 minutes and I can get to bed.  I was so adamant about this last night, but I finally gave in around 3:30... his face was wet from tears and he just looked so hurt that I wouldn't pick him up and love on him. 

So, night one of crying it out: FAIL.  Maybe tonight will be better?  Any suggestions on what to do to reduce the soakage would be great also.  He nurses before he goes to bed, but I can't cut that out, right?  Don't kids take a bottle before they go to sleep? 

I'll update tomorrow with hopefully some good news on the cry it out front.  Wish me luck!

it's a good thing you are cute, you little nugget.

Happy boy

seriously, y'all.  I swear Andy is such a sweet little thing.  Couldn't you just eat him up??

(he refuses to wear bibs....)

I got in trouble

At school on Tuesday, the director was laughing when I went to pick up Cal.  She told me that he just cracks her up... uh-oh.  What did he do??  She said they were playing in the auditorium and he took a ball from another kid and took off running with it.  The other kid was upset and was chasing after him.

She said to Cal: "Cal did you..." and before she could finish the sentence, he dropped the ball, and dropped his head down and said "I so sorry."

The director is telling me this story and just dying laughing because she said it was completely obvious that Cal knew that he shouldn't be doing that, and it was funny to see his conscious kicking in.

We got in the car and I started asking Cal some questions about his day:

I didn't have a chance to talk to Eddie the whole day, so when he got home from work, his first question to Cal was: "How was school today?" And Cal took a bite of his dinner and said, "I got in trouble, daddy, because I tooka the ball." and then he took another bite of food!  Eddie about fell on the floor!  He looked at me like he couldn't believe that his kid a) really just said that long of a sentence, and b) really got in trouble at school. 

I sent my dad the video above and he called that night on facetime to talk to Cal.  When Cal saw him, my dad asked about school, and Cal said "oh, I got in trouble.  I tooka the ball." hahahaha

We are not laughing because he took someone's ball, of course, but it is pretty funny to hear him admit that he got in trouble! Eddie and I both talked to him about getting in trouble and how it's not nice to take things and that we share toys... he kept saying okayyyyy! But I know that will not be the last time he gets in trouble at school!

SUPERMAN!

Lately, Cal has been exclaiming "SUPERMAN!!!" when he does anything... peepeeing on the potty? He is screaming SUPERMAN! Washing his hands? SUPERMAN! Walking down the stairs? SUPERMAN!  I found a cape that was given to him for his birthday and put it on him last night.  He was too funny running around in it.  Jackson has a birthday party this weekend that is Super hero themed and I think my mom might make him his own little cape to wear to the party...

Momma said.....

Momma said there'd be days like this....

And she wasn't lying!  PHEW!  Today has been a rough one, for no real reason.  Andy was up in the night (which is the new norm... more on that one later), but usually he will go back down right away-- this time he was up for a few hours.  So, I am going on little sleep, and my patience is a little thin today!

The boys haven't been bad, per se, they have just been kids-- and it's ME who needs to just get over it.  

We caused many heads to turn at the grocery store this morning.  Cal insisted on holding Andy.  In the cart. While he was strapped in.  Andy didn't want to be held, so he screamed.  As Andy screamed, he lost his balance and leaned on to Cal, which upset Cal, so he screamed, while shoving Andy over to the other side of the cart, which caused Andy's head to hit the side, causing him to scream again.  While he was leaning the other way and screaming, his feet came over and were in Cal's way.  Cal then started screaming "he hurts me! he hurrrrrts!!!"  Which then got Andy even more upset, so he started crying.  I scolded Cal (quietly!) to be nice to Andy, which then made Cal scream.  We couldn't check out fast enough.  

But now, ahhh.... the boys are napping, the house is totally silent except for the sound of the dryer going (I love that noise, by the way...), and I have a People Magazine I am going to read before hopping in the shower.  

I guess there will be days like this, but I love them anyway...

worry wort

It is January 7th and the weather here is GORGEOUS!  It got cool this past week, but it has warmed up to something quite nice this weekend!

Cal got some really fun toys for Christmas and we thought we would take him to an empty parking lot to let him run and burn off some of his energy.  There is an elementary school near by that has a great parking lot.  Sally and Brad came to meet us and it was the perfect way to spend the morning- outside with friends running around like crazy!

We took Cal's plasma car and his tricycle as well as a little jeep for Andy to hang out in.  Sally brought Brad's bike and a scooter... we all had a great time-- and we are now even more terrified of Cal breaking something....


Right before we left-- Andy was all smiles!

When we got to the parking lot, Cal immediately took off on the plasma car-- that thing can haul!

Andy was so happy to be hanging out in the jeep watching it all.

When Brad arrived, Cal spotted the scooter and wanted it right away.  He watched how Brad did it and then he was ready for a turn.  The boys switched toys and Cal was off.  Brad was wearing a helmet when he rode this, but we left Cal's helmet at home. 

getting the hang of it slowly...

 Once Cal got the hang of it, he was off...

He started to get pretty good and "pedaling" (what the heck is the word for this??  I am drawing a blank...), and steering.  This is when Eddie and I started getting reallllly nervous.  Both of us had sweaty palms watching him!  He would get going so fast and didn't really have a way of stopping.  FREAKED US OUT.

Then, he started crossing his moving leg behind him (above) and we reallllly started worrying.  Brad was nice enough to let Cal wear his helmet so his parents wouldn't freak out (ha!). 

Here he is, above, riding along with the helmet on.  We were still nervous, but at least his noggin was protected. 

I realize that being the mother of two boys, I am going to have broken bones in my future...I am just terrified of it happening!  And God forbid something worse happens than a bone break...SHEESH!  This momma stuff is filled with worry!  Maybe I should just duct tape pillows to his whole body and make him wear a helmet 100% of the time.  I mean, that might work...right??


xoxo,
Worrywort Wanda

january, start the year off fine....

Welcome to 2012!!!

My calendar towards the end of 2011 was so packed, and my calendar now is so empty, and I have to say... it feels really nice to have some down time! 

I have been awful with taking pictures lately-- just haven't thought about getting out the camera. But I have taken some with my iPhone, so I thought I would do one of those updates with iPhone pics, with commentary in between, just because, well, why not?

The bounce house that Cal received for Christmas has proven to be a huge hit.  It fits in our garage perfectly and that way, we can play without getting cold!

the garage looks horribly nasty in this pic... we cleaned it out like crazy this weekend.  Looks great now!

 Andy is 7 and a half months and I could just cry.  Where is my little baby??  The kids in his play group are all having their first birthday parties and soon we will be thinking about Andy's (I mean, not any time soon, but you know what I mean...). 

He started inching his way out of his whale of a tub so I decided to try giving him a bath in the big boy tub.  The first time, we did it without Cal, just in case Cal got excited and tried to drown him. 

Andy LOVED it!!!  He had the best time splashing around and playing in the water.  He also loved to chew on the little alphabet stick on letter things.  The kid is one happy baby... so much fun
 to be around.  He literally is always smiling!

Cal is a ton of fun right now too.  He is talking in complete sentences and cracking me up.  He is a handful when he's melting, but I am quickly learning ways to divert the meltdown into something else (this is not easy....).  

who me? melt down? you crazy, woman.

 The above picture was taken while I was sitting on the toilet.  Yes, that's right.  That's the kind of privacy I get 'round these parts.  Cal is interested in the potty again and I think we will start training in the next few months (Lord, help me.).  Every time I go in there, he comes running in and stands next to the potty to ask what I'm doing. (Cal: "mommy, you going potty right now?" me: "yes, mommy has to peepee." Cal: "you going peepee in the potty?" me: "yes, I am peepeeing in the potty" Cal: "well, yay, mommy! woohoo! great job! mommy go peepee! yay!") This conversation is repeated every time I pee when he's awake. 

Also, funny thing... like any other male, Cal thinks tooting is hilarious.  It cracks him up.  I have the maturity level of a 7th grader, and they also make me giggle.  Can't help it.  If Cal hears you toot, he announces it-- loudly.

When my in-laws were in town after Christmas, I was holding Cal and my stomach rumbled.  He shouted, "MOMMY TOOTED!!!!" At the top of his lungs.  The only one in the room was my father-in-law.  AWWWWKKKKKKWWWWWAAAAARRRRRRDDDDDDD. 

Cal is still obsessed with Hank and loves to talk to him.  He has also started wanting to sit as close as possible to anyone sitting on the floor.  He will sit basically on Andy's lap when he's sitting on the floor playing, and he was trying to sit on Hank's lap the other day:

bless this dog's heart... good boy

 Cal still loves going in to get Andy every day:

On New Year's Day, we were getting ready to put the kids to bed and we were sitting on the floor reading a book.  Next thing I knew, we were all laying on top of each other laughing.  I tried to get a family shot... it was one of those super cheesy moments that I kinda never want to forget. 

Cal has a little fireman's hat that has an adjustable piece on the inside.  He took that part of it out and wanted to just wear the plastic part.  The whole day.  Wouldn't take it off.

Again, Andy is seriously a happy baby.  This was him waking up from his morning nap... all smiles, all the time! Also, he looks like he has a cone head in this picture.  His hair is really starting to come in... on the top...

 In other BIG news around here, Andy is no longer in a baby carseat!  We have moved him to a big boy carseat... so when we go to the grocery store, the boys are able to sit next to each other.  That was interesting.  Cal wanted to show Andy the wheel and how it worked, but he didn't want Andy to touch his wheel... "just look, andy! just look!"

 (doesn't andy look huge in this picture??!!)

All of that shopping really took its toll on Andy.  He fell fast asleep in his new car seat... but there wasn't a good place to put his head...

ANNND, since he is such a big boy now, I gave him his first MumMum... they are like little waffer type things that a lot of my friends have given their kids.  Andy sort of played with it and wasn't a huge fan of the taste.  He ended up passing it down to Hank. Oh well!

seriously: HUGE hands... he's going to be a biggin

 Let's play a game.  Can you guess which one is TWO??

 The funny thing is, he was happy and laughing until I got out the camera.  The he said "I no want you to take picture! NO camera!" wellllll.... excuse me!

Andy didn't mind one bit!

The challenge lately is only having 2 arms.  Ever since our trip to California, Cal has been realllly clingy to me.  Not all the time, but if he knows I am about to go get Andy out of his crib, or I am going to feed Andy, Cal becomes extremely clingy. 
Also, Hank has become very clingy too.  Since we were home when the neighbor's house was broken into and Hank and I heard it, I honestly think it has put us all on edge a little bit.  Hank does not leave my side during the day...

Yesterday, Cal woke up first, so we were playing, and then Andy woke up, so I went in to get him.  Cal started screaming and trying to climb up my legs.  Hank freaked out for whatever reason and ran in between my legs (he likes to "buck" like a horse).  He is a BIG dog, so there isn't a whole lot of room when he is standing/jumping in between your legs...especially with a two year old climbing on your legs too!  So you see why I need more arms!  Then, I tried to nurse Andy with Cal trying to climb on my lap with Hank nudging my arm with his nose 700 times. 

This picture sums it up.... all three of my boys, right on top of me!!! hahaha  I do love it though....

Another bath... this time for both boys... they did really well together!

Andy couldn't believe what a great book he found in there....

 And this morning, Cal kept saying "brrr, Andy is soo cold!" and brought every single blanket (burp cloth, swaddle, lovie, etc etc) from the house to put on him.  Andy thought it was funny, so I didn't mind... but that's a pain to clean up!

Hope your 2012 is off to a great start! 

Ho ho ho!

It is so hard to believe that another Christmas has come and gone already!  I was sooo in the Christmas spirit before we went to CA and while we were there, I kept forgetting it was Christmas time. I was quickly brought back into the spirit once returning home!

We got back on Thursday the 22nd at night and on Friday the 23rd, we had a little Christmas get together with my brother and his family, who were heading down to Savannah to spend Christmas with my sister-in-law's family.  Cal wasn't opening gifts, since he would get gifts from my parents on Christmas day, but he was surprised with a BIG WHEEL!  Jackson and Catherine both got them, so Cal got his early to be able to ride with them.  He LOVES it.  It is still a little big for him, but he really had fun just scooting around on it. 

My parents had a friend of theirs dress up as Santa to  come in during family Christmas.  He made a huge entry and the kids were all excited for him-- it was very cute...

My pictures from the family Christmas stop there because Cal was on my lap terrified of Santa...again.  Sigh. Oh well!  Once this Santa handed Cal a gift, Cal gave him knuckles, but wouldn't get much closer.  Side note-- Santa gave Cal and Jackson the Hess truck and car-- huge huge huge hit!  If you have a little kid in your life who loves cars/trucks/things that make noise, go to the Hess gas station to get one for them!  I couldn't believe it-- a friend of mine wanted one for her son, who got one last year, but really wanted this year's, and she couldn't find one in the whole state--!!!!  I guess our Santa got really lucky!!! Here is a link to the truck, for those curious...

So, that was the morning of the 23rd... Eddie's parents arrived that evening after the kids went to bed, so I spent the rest of the day picking up the house, unpacking, and trying to get laundry all done. 

On Christmas Eve, we spent time around the house and Eddie and his parents did some shopping for Christmas.  Eddie's sister got in around noon.  We met up with my parents for the children's service at church at 5:30.  It is a chaotic service that is totally for the children.  I love the 8:00 candlelight service at our church, but there was no way CalBoy and Andy could have made it through that and I didn't want to have them in the nursery on Christmas Eve!

Cal walking into church with Mimi and Poppy

 All of the children are invited to the front for a reading of the story of Jesus's birth.  Cal and I went up there and after about 60 seconds, Cal was over it!  My cousin was with us in church and he decided he wanted to sit with her.  So Cal and I had to get up and crawl through everyone to walk back to our seats:

family shot after church-- can't you just see the fire in Cal's eyes??

After church, we went over to my parent's house for some food and fun.  It was SUCH a wonderful night... I felt to lucky to have both of our families together like that.  I was thrilled to be with my parents, and looking at Eddie, I could tell he was so happy to be with his parents, and we were able to do it all together, which made it so nice. 

Eddie's mom used to be a choir teacher and she still can play the piano.  She sat down at my mom's piano and played some Christmas music for us, which was so much fun!

here, Mimi, let me help you with that

yayyyyyy!

Christmas Eve was really, really special.  We all really had a nice time enjoying each other and being with family, and that's what Christmas is all about!!!

Everyone was asking what time we would be starting the fun on Christmas morning and I had no idea what to tell them.  The boys were so screwed up from the time changes from San Diego and they were beyond worn out from traveling.  The first morning back, Cal didn't get up until after 8 and Andy didn't until after 9 (he was up in the night, obviously...). 

Well, Christmas morning, both boys were wide awake fairly early.  Andy was up around 6 and Cal was up before 7.  I was supposed to call my parents to tell them to come over, but we all thought that would be closer to 8ish.  I called them at 7 and told them everyone was awake and they needed to haul it if they wanted to see anything!

I brought Andy down stairs and sat him on the floor surrounded by gifts.  He was just smiling ear to ear, happy as could be!  I wanted to be downstairs with the camera when Cal came down the stairs.  I actually really wanted to get a picture of Cal at the top of the stairs waiting to come down, but there were a few people (okay, one person...and I am married to him!), that were not patient and didn't want to wait for a picture! So Eddie was a little excited and brought Cal down the stairs.

who needs toys??

coming down the stairs!

The boys got a new wagon... well, it's Andy's wagon, but Cal thinks it's pretty amazing too!  I love this picture of them in there together.  They are just going to be best buddies...either that or they are going to do their best to throw each other out of the wagon.  Let's not think about the latter. It's Christmas, after all. 

Cal's big Santa gift this year was a Lightning McQueen bike and helmet (safety first.).  He was super excited about the bike, but he can't quite pedal just yet.  He loves to sit on it though!

A few little side note funnies that I will want to look back and remember...

1. see the adorable jammies the kids are wearing?  I told my mom that I really wanted the boys to have matching jammies for Christmas morning-- whether or not you think it's cheesy, I do not care.  I think it is super sweet.  Well, my mom found some matching and gave them to me as a surprise.  When I opened them, I noticed the scalloped neckline.  I ignored it because I was excited to have jammies for the boys, but then I noticed that the little reindeer had eyelashes...like, curly q eyelashes.  Then, upon further inspection, the reindeer had on PINK collars! hahahahaha.... yup-- these were girl pajamas!!!  We didn't care!  Those boys were going to be matching, darn it!  Look above in Cal's picture-- you can see the pink...hahahaha

2. On Christmas Eve morning, I told Eddie I didn't care what he did the whole day, but during nap time, I wanted him to take some time to assemble a few gifts.  I had ordered, shopped, wrapped, EVERYTHING, and I needed some help with the wagon, the bike and the last part of the plasma car (SUPER cool, by the way).  Eddie kept saying all day that he would do it.  Welllll.... he didn't.  So he knew, once the kids were in bed, he was on a mission to assemble those darn gifts.  Eddie and his dad set up shop in the upstairs playroom while Eddie's mom and sister helped me carry gifts down from the attic.  At 10:15, Eddie's dad came downstairs and said, "go ahead and call Target and see if they have a bike already assembled that we can buy."  I told him that they were all in boxes, so he said, "go ahead and call Target to see if they are still open.  We might be needing to buy a new bike."  HUH?!?!  Well, in their efforts to attach something to the other, they stripped one of the screws so it wouldn't attach properly.  I called Target, but of course they were closed; it was Christmas Eve!!!  Eddie hopped in the car and drove over to my dad's house to locate the necessary tools and returned to fix the bike.  The whole time this was happening, he had a sheepish grin on his face because he knew he should have done all of this earlier in the day, but he chose not to.  I never said I TOLD YOU SO... didn't have to... he knew!

3. Cal is obsessed with Lightning McQueen, as we have previously established.  We also have established that he was wearing some little girl jammies (although they were realllllly cute....).  I found the most hideous Lightning McQueen t-shirt while I was out shopping and wrapped it up for Cal.  He opened it and you would have thought it was piped in gold.  He wanted it on right that very second so he put it on on top of the jammies and then got super hot so I had to peel off the jammies under the ugly t-shirt.  He wore that t-shirt the rest of the day with pride.  And I was pretty proud too, that I gave him a gift that he didn't want to take off...

After opening presents at our house, Eddie cooked a huge breakfast on his new Big Green Egg.  He's obsessed.  We then headed over to my parents house to open gifts from them...


Cal is also obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  I think I posted before if you ask him what Mickey says, Cal says "Ohhhh, tooooooodles!!!!"  It's hilarious.  My parents found this gigantic Mickey Mouse several, several months ago and have been hiding it for Cal for Christmas.  We walked in the door and Cal literally gasped, ran to Mickey, and body slammed him like it was the WWE. 

please note the non-matching socks.  Also, please note that those are Andy's. 

 He LOOOOVES his new Mickey!

Momma got some new dining room chairs-- wooohoooooo!!!  I. LOVE. THEM!  We currently do not have chairs in our dining room (whatever- work in progress), and these are AMAZING!  love love love love love!  thanks, santa!!!

When Cal walked out on the back deck of my parents house, he saw his new bounce house!  He was sooo excited about it and didn't want to get out!  The best part is, this thing collapses and folds down to fit in a bin.  Also the best part is it blows up in like 10 seconds. And the other best part (apparently, there are a lot of best parts), is it will flat WEAR out your energetic kid!  again, I. LOVE. IT!

you work that tacky t-shirt and mismatched socks, boy!

 Andy got a new chair, which is just adorable.  He loved sitting it in like a big boy.  He was giving me the cheesiest, toothless smile ever-- wide open!  He is such a happy kid and I can't help but smile when he looks at me like this:

My mom also managed to find another chair for Cal, this one a tad tackier than Andy's... yes, that's right: it is Lightning McQueen! It's hard to tell in the below picture because his shirt blends in with the chair (ahem...), but the chair is McQueen, and get this-- it even makes noise! hahahaha  Cal loves it, obviously!

By the time we finished opening gifts over at mom and dad's house, everyone was exhausted.  We headed home for a little down time/nap time.  We were going to meet back over at their house after naps for dinner.

This time, Cal found this hat in the car and realllly wanted to wear it.  okayyyyy....

Cal and Mimi being silly

 After taking a little power nap and a shower, I must say, it felt awesome to brush my hair and put on some makeup.  I was a bit of a hot mess the whole morning.

My parents have a train that goes around their tree and Cal really loves it.  I like this picture below with my dad and Cal and Andy watching it go by.  Okay, well, Andy isn't really watching it so much as sucking on his fingers staring at my dad, but kinda.... you get where I'm going with it, right?

After a fabulous meal, we headed for home to get the kids (and adults) in bed.

It was a very, very, very wonderful, special and memorable Christmas.  Just to make sure we didn't forget the reason for celebrating, we did sing happy birthday to Baby Jesus-- Cal is all about Baby Jesus lately!

I hope those of you who have read this far in this disgustingly long post had wonderful holidays.  I wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, and a super happy New Year (and any other this time of year holiday I might be missing)!