March 2005 part 3 - Support for the sleep obsessed!

[bonym]

Which of course, we all are

Well the MN sleeping jinx has hit our household too and having had a good long run of sleeping through until 5.30/6.00am, for the past three nights Harrison has woken at all sorts of times and has STAYED AWAKE FOR HOURS !!!!!!!

Last night he woke at 12.45am and I didn't get back to sleep until almost 4.00am he then woke again at 6.00am. The night before he woke at 3.30am and it was 6.00am before I got some sleep The night before that, we also had ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS with Harrison waking at 3 and 4.00am, then DD waking at 5.00am because she'd had a bad dream and then Harrison waking again at 6.00am. I feel like a wreck

He's not feeding very well (although he loved baked butternut squash Bonym) and has been quite feverish (although that seems to be better today) so I'm now not sure if he's got a bug, if he's teething or if he's just feeling crappy (like his mummy )

DH is now off for a few days as it's half term so I might try and take advantage of him taking the children somewhere so I can get some shut-eye.

Have a good day everyone.

Popsycal - lovely news about your friend. I am waiting for a friend and dh's neice to have babies in the next few weeks. Am excited to be remined how tiny and helpless Niklas was a few months ago.

How did your getting tough go last night?

Pidge & BW - sympathies! I hope you both manage to get some rest today and that tonight is better.

I went to bed 9.30 last night and managed to sleep until 11.30, Niklas settled back fairly quickly, then 2.30 for a big feed and this morning he let us lay in until 5.45 !

He really didn't look happy this morning when I dropped him off at the nursery . its weighing on my heart today. I think he has worked out that when we take him there we are leaving him for the day. but he also has a cold, so maybe its not that bad. Roll on 6pm so I can take him home!

busywizzy - maybe we should take a vow never to mention sleep on here again! Iris was doing exactly the same - going through till 5am ish, but in the last four nights she's started waking at 9, 10, midnight, all sorts of random times. And of course the one night she went through till 4am was the night dd1 spent two hours vomiting all over the place!! I swear I am utterly sleep obsessed at the moment. I could never understand why parents banged on about sleep all the time, because we were oh sooooooooo lucky first time round. Am not feeling down about it though - well, I am at 2am etc, but not during the day. I marvel at how cheery I can be on such broken, limited sleep. This is a girl who couldn't live without her 9 hours in bed before having kids!

Leogaela - I'm sure Niklas is fine once you've gone. He'll be merrily playing with the other kids and getting stuck in to all sorts of toys and activities. It's really hard though isn't it? I was lucky that it was usually my dp that did both drop off and pick up, so I rarely had to do that heartbreaking handover.

Random question: Do your babies get the hiccups whenever they laugh? Iris gets huge fits of the giggles when I tickle her, or play 'boo', but then gets convulsed in hiccups every time. Come to think of it dd1 was the same.

Pidge - you are a stronger girl than me, I am still hopeless without my sleep, but its true somehow you keep managing to find a little bit more and more energy! Just had a huge lunch, and its really warm, hmmm, could just doze off at my desk here!

Thanks for reassurance about Niklas. I keep thinking about calling them to check he is OK. Only 4 hours to go!

I am not going to mention how Grace slept last night...

Leo, it's early days with Niklaus and he'll still be settling in so is bound to be a bit sad now he understands you're going for the whole day. DD used to be exactly the same but whenever I phoned (usually within 2 hours of dropping her, I never could manage longer ) she was always happy as a sandman Be strong, it does get easier.

I'm a bit like you Pidge on managing without sleep. In the middle of the night, I feel like I can't cope with another second and I also feel like this when I first get up. But once I've had a shower and am up and about, I feel like I've had my full quota I remember the days when I used to lay in until lunchtime and on the days I got up earlier, I often used to go back to bed for a nap later in the day. Hahahahaha, it's laughable. Now I'd think I'd had a marathon sleeping session if I got more than seven hours straight (well right now, it would be more like three hours )

Today I'm struggling as I feel full of cold and keep coming over all hot. If this is what Harrison's got then no wonder he's so miserable as I feel ghastly. I think it's teeth though as so far today, I've changed five yucky nappies, which is always a 'sign'

Harrison's gone down for a nap, DD is at a friends and DH is having a snooze as Harrison's crying woke him once in the night wow it must have been loud !!! So I'm off for some shut-eye myself

Bonym, good or bad ????

My lips are sealed.

!

so much for being tough last night
hmmm

anyway - moving swiftly on...
competitive mummy alert....

we have clapping on demand () and pincer grip so my carpetis nice and clean from all the picking at the fluff

oh and dancing...

'harry where is your dancing'
cue comedy head wiggling

Very clever Popsy.
Lauren is now lifting her hands to be picked up and I could swear that she said Dada today but DH thinks I'm imagining it!
Amazing how they are growing into little people in front of our very eyes. Miraculous really. I know zillions have done all these things before, but when it's your child it feels like they're the first baby on the planet to get so clever.

Feel like a zombie today, Caleb still waking twice in the night. He's also not having naps in the day, took me an hour to get him to sleep this afternoon. Also gone from eating everything in sight to just wanting Breast Milk.

On the good side! he's now crawling and can go from lying on the floor to pushing himself up to sitting. Has also started pulling himself up on furniture but topples as he looses his balance. Thinking of going to work for a couple of afternoons a week and putting him in nursery. Think he would really enjoy it, hope everyone's ok and getting more sleep than me!!

Ahh - our babies are so clever . So cute about the dancing popsy.

It is so hard to be tough at night isn't it? When you're sleep deprived you just want to take the line of least resistance. It's easy enough in the cold light of day to resolve to do or not to do something during the night, but when it comes down to it...well we all just want to get back to sleep as quickly as possible.

Busywizzy - Grace and I have both been full of cold as well the last couple of days. Fortunately I am feeling much better today, and Grace's doesn't seem to be bothering her too much. Nose is constantly running though. Hope you get over yours soon.

She had her first taste of fish yesterday - cod with courgettes, mixed with potato. Well, when I say first taste, she actually refused to eat any. Also made lovely minestrone with pasta (a huge pan full) which she also turned her nose up at . Oh well.

serena is doing lots of waving, can i brag lol.

she is very fast at crawling, and has an obession with the ladders in the hall way that need collecting. i have to keep getting her. i think we need a gate across the living room door lol.

Shalaa - today I feel great as I went to sleep at 9.30 last night , but Niklas woke up at 11, 12, 2.30, 4.30 and 5.45 when we got up! Taking Caleb to nursery 2 afternoons a week could be good for him, its tough to leave him sometimes but Niklas seems to be really enjoying the time he spends there.

Took him to the doctor yesterday because his cold seems to be affecting his breathing but the doctor seemed to think he was fine.

Niklas was very happy when we left him at nursery this morning, all smiles, they said he was fine yesterday as well !

Clever Harry!

Niklas pulls himself to standing on anything he can get up onto (including my legs), he's very stable now doesn't fall and will only hold on wiht one hand, he can also move from one chair to another while standing letting go with both hands momentarily. He also follows me from room to room if I tell him to come with me (that's great I don't have to pick him up ALL the time). Waves his hands in the air a lot but that is random, no clapping, still no dada, mama or baba (maybe he's missing that stage out and going straight to talking !)! Jambot - I agree, watching a baby learn and develop is incredible!

I am still not to talk about how Grace is sleeping .

Still no sign of her crawling - she has been looking as though she is about to for what seems like ages but doesn't seem to progress much! She gets so frustrated as well. She can get all over the place by rolling and wriggling though .

It is fascinating how they are all so different and develop different skills at different rates - dd1 was crawling and pulling herself up by this age (according to her baby book!).

Glad Niklas is so happy at nursery Leogaela - hope his cold is better soon. He sounds very active - so cute the thought of him following you around .

It's confirmed - a definite 'dada' has come from my daughter's lips! Had a neutral witness to the fact, so not just a biased parent
Physically she is way behind a lot of the babes. She is only just getting sitting right and even that's not brilliant yet. She is quite happy sitting in her cardboard box gabbling away.
We are finally in summer clothes after a slow start. Went for a lovely walk early this morning - one of those perfect early summer mornings with lovely blue skies but not too hot yet.
Sympathy vibes to all the non-sleeping mums. Must guiltily admit that I have had a star sleeper pretty much from the start. Sorry girls!!! And thanks to the powers above that chose to look kindly upon me - God knows why!!!

We are on a roll with the 'dada' thing. Hasn't stopped daddaing her heart out since this morning! Of course except for the minute that DH was around! She even carried on saying it during lunch, which involved mouthfulls of food spewing everywhere.

boneym - like you my lips are sealed on Iris's sleep last night ! Suffice to say it wasn't her usual performance.

We are getting geared up for dd1's halloween party tomorrow. I have been making little cupcakes which I'm now going to decorate with orange icing and stick little 'pumpkins' on top (foil covered chocolates). I'm also whipping up my pumpkin cheesecake. And for the main course they're going to get witches hair spaghetti (squid ink spaghetti) courtesy of Nigella!

Jambot - very cute that Lauren hasn't stopped saying dadadada! She will soon be saying mama too! And will sit properly all in her own good time !
Do any of your babies understand who you are talking about when you say 'mummy' or 'daddy'? Niklas has known his own name for months but doesn't seem to understand mummy or daddy at all yet.

bonym - Niklas was frustrated with not being able to crawl for weeks, I thoroughly recommend getting down on your hands and knees as much as possible and showing her what to do !!!

Pidge - the halloween party sounds like fun! We are going to one at DH's work. I think he only wants to go so he can show Niklas off to everyone (and bore them stupid with talking about him none stop!)! Spending the evening with his work colleagues is not my idea of fun, but hey ho, have to do my duty and maybe the food will be good !

Leo - She grins like mad when you say 'where's dada?', but then she grins like mad at anything you say so don't think that is saying much. Think she knows the words bottle and bath, as she seems to respond suitably when I say them. Who knows?
We never did Halloween as a child. We did Guy Fawkes. Although the local kids came 'trick or treating' last year. First time I've seen that in SA. Don't think they did very well out of it as can't think that many households were prepared with the necessary goodies. What date is it by the way?

guy fawkes or halloween?

We never really 'did' halloween either, but I couldn't resist the excuse to do some 'themed' baking! Plus I've made a hilarious witch's costume for dd1. Should be fun. Halloween is actually 31st October I think, but we're doing the party tomorrow. We did a fireworks party last year but to be honest she was a bit scared, and I thought that would really freak out Iris!

Leogaela - Iris definitely know's my older daughter's name. If you say "Where's Cleo" she turns and looks at her and grins. We've had the same success a couple of times with 'daddy' but that might have been chance. No sign of her knowing 'mummy'.

31st it seems. Think I'll unplug our bell! Nasty I know, but the blasted bell ringing every 5 seconds will wake Lauren. The local kids will probably go home talking about the mean people at no 14!