Amelia turned 8 months old yesterday. To celebrate, she woke up only once last night. I promise not to get used to it.
Kieran has not been doing well at school. He's had many days on red (parent note) and yesterday his aftercare program basically asked us to try to not bring him in today (though given the short notice, they understood that it was not an option). Ken & I agree that what he wants is to not be in aftercare but to have some time with me and/or Ken one-on-one so to take him out of the afterschool program is rewarding him for bad behavior. But it's definitely bad when you're asked to have your kid take a day to 'think about things'.
Last night was even worse. I made Kieran write lines (I will not be bad. I will listen.), no TV, lost a toy, no dessert and no vitamins (gummy kind so they are a treat). And I made a dinner I knew was not tops on his list. During dinner he was playing and I asked him to stop (repeatedly) this goes on most dinnertimes and is very frustrating. Ken told him that if he could not stop playing he could just take his butt upstairs. To which Kieran replied "You've got a big butt." (later he confessed he thought Ken said that he could take his big butt upstairs) At which point he was sent directly to bed. Do not pass go, do not get any bedtime stories. One hour early. It's the harshest we've been on him. I hope that he got the message. I'm tired of being parent to the child who is constantly in trouble.
The flip side of this is that all the teachers agree that he can be a sweet, loving child. That he is forthright and honest about his errors, but he is also defiant when he has made up his mind. I am really hoping for a good report on today.
In other news, Amelia has begun to pull up on things at school. Which means we really need to lower her crib this weekend. And I have to buy a step so I can reach her once it's lowered. Yes, I really am that short.
Love to all, blog again soon.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Bedtime and Other Tales of Woe
I'm ready for Amelia to have a better bedtime routine. Kieran had this whole sleeping thing down at 8 weeks old. She's nearly 8 months and we're still struggling. Blech.
She goes down without fuss. It's staying down that seems to be an issue. 8 PM is bedtime. She's usually in her crib no later than 8:30, back up around 10:30. And at 1:30 and sometimes again at 3:30. Every now and again she'll throw me a curve ball and sleep from 8:30 until 3:30 or from 10:30 until 5 or 6 AM. I just want some consistency (and more sleep).
Poor Kieran is desperate for a little one-on-one time with me and Ken. Ken fell down our stairs at the beginning of the month and likely broke some ribs. He was laid up for about 2 weeks and then had to make up work for the next two weeks, which meant Kieran was stuck with me and Amelia and no "just him" time, unless you count him going to his room by himself.
I think this has led to his very bad days at school lately (on red, orange and yellow a lot). Hoping we can turn this trend around now that we recognize what may be the cause of it.
Not much else to say but that I recognize I haven't blogged in awhile. I got swamped at work, Ken was sick so I didn't have time at home either. Will try to be better, that's all I can promise.
She goes down without fuss. It's staying down that seems to be an issue. 8 PM is bedtime. She's usually in her crib no later than 8:30, back up around 10:30. And at 1:30 and sometimes again at 3:30. Every now and again she'll throw me a curve ball and sleep from 8:30 until 3:30 or from 10:30 until 5 or 6 AM. I just want some consistency (and more sleep).
Poor Kieran is desperate for a little one-on-one time with me and Ken. Ken fell down our stairs at the beginning of the month and likely broke some ribs. He was laid up for about 2 weeks and then had to make up work for the next two weeks, which meant Kieran was stuck with me and Amelia and no "just him" time, unless you count him going to his room by himself.
I think this has led to his very bad days at school lately (on red, orange and yellow a lot). Hoping we can turn this trend around now that we recognize what may be the cause of it.
Not much else to say but that I recognize I haven't blogged in awhile. I got swamped at work, Ken was sick so I didn't have time at home either. Will try to be better, that's all I can promise.
Thursday, February 02, 2012
What's New
Amelia is crawling (well, still combat crawling) and starting to get into a lot. Kieran still dotes on her but every now and again I see an inkling of the future when Kieran states "Stop touching me, Amelia!" or "EWWWW! Baby slobber!" I knew the ever-loving big brother couldn't last forever. *sigh*
We did end up getting a new cat. The original idea was that Reggie might be lonely now that Ochi is gone so we were going to adopt a cat from a friend. Anyway, that fell through we asked our new vet where they would suggest we go to adopt a cat. They sent us to a little old lady who had just brought in a stray and was looking for a new home.
Welcome Callie - the little calico cat. She and Reggie have been feeling each other out, though they're not best buds yet, I expect they will be within a month or so. Kieran is desperately trying to get her to accept his love (including hugs), but she's a bit leery. She's adjusting to her new home very well (using the litterbox - Hooray!) and does come upstairs at night to sleep on my feet. Shhh. Don't tell Kieran.
Amelia is not doing great in the sleeping through the night thing. Some nights she is up so many times I actually lose count. Other times she is up only once or twice. I'm hoping this is a phase but if it persists later this month we may have to do some crying-it-out (probably both of us). We'll see. She doesn't do self-soothing very well (which is bad) but can settle down with minimal help but it has to be the exact right timing.
So far she loves all food and we have not had any allergic reactions (knock wood). She's into the 2nd stage foods and once she can sit up a bit better I hope to start her on some real solids - things she can feed herself. We get this forlorn look from her each time we eat in front of her.
That's about it. Work has been crazy for me and Ken. I barely see him as by the time we're done with the kids each night we have about a half hour left in us to decompress before we clean up/pack lunches/head to bed. Maybe we'll get that babysitter soon and get the heck out of the house.
OK, Got to get back to it. Love to all, blog again soon. Happy Groundhog Day.
We did end up getting a new cat. The original idea was that Reggie might be lonely now that Ochi is gone so we were going to adopt a cat from a friend. Anyway, that fell through we asked our new vet where they would suggest we go to adopt a cat. They sent us to a little old lady who had just brought in a stray and was looking for a new home.
Welcome Callie - the little calico cat. She and Reggie have been feeling each other out, though they're not best buds yet, I expect they will be within a month or so. Kieran is desperately trying to get her to accept his love (including hugs), but she's a bit leery. She's adjusting to her new home very well (using the litterbox - Hooray!) and does come upstairs at night to sleep on my feet. Shhh. Don't tell Kieran.
Amelia is not doing great in the sleeping through the night thing. Some nights she is up so many times I actually lose count. Other times she is up only once or twice. I'm hoping this is a phase but if it persists later this month we may have to do some crying-it-out (probably both of us). We'll see. She doesn't do self-soothing very well (which is bad) but can settle down with minimal help but it has to be the exact right timing.
So far she loves all food and we have not had any allergic reactions (knock wood). She's into the 2nd stage foods and once she can sit up a bit better I hope to start her on some real solids - things she can feed herself. We get this forlorn look from her each time we eat in front of her.
That's about it. Work has been crazy for me and Ken. I barely see him as by the time we're done with the kids each night we have about a half hour left in us to decompress before we clean up/pack lunches/head to bed. Maybe we'll get that babysitter soon and get the heck out of the house.
OK, Got to get back to it. Love to all, blog again soon. Happy Groundhog Day.
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