If I Could, I Would

If I could change Mia's sleep habits, I would. If I could make it rain money, I would. If I could remember to clean my glasses each day, I would. Same goes for blogging. So, here's what we've been up to...

Amelia is doing better with nighttime (at least the past 2 nights she did) but I'm not ready to call it just yet (given that the previous 2 weeks she was up at least twice each night). Ken believes if we get her upstairs earlier she may sleep better. Kieran had a 7 PM bedtime when he was little, Mia's been working on a 7:30 or 8PM bedtime. Last two nights we put her to bed earlier and it's been better - she even slept from 7:30 until 6 this morning. So, we'll see how we can work that. It'll be hard, but it's not impossible.

She continues to grow rapidly. She's pulling up and cruising along the furniture (and people). She likes to hug and smile and play peek-a-boo. She adores her big brother.

Big brother's reading is coming along so well that he now reads one book to himself most nights after we go downstairs. It effectively makes his bedtime a little bit later (8:15 or as late as 8:30) but he's very very good about turning off his light and not trying to milk the opportunity.

Kieran started his baseball season this past Saturday and had another game Monday night. The big difference this year is that he's doing coach-pitch (not t-ball). He hit 3 pitches at Monday's game and even though he's the littlest one on his team, he still hits better than half the kids. Maybe that's just my mom-goggles, but I swear it's true.

The funniest Kieran story lately is from his game Monday. Last inning of the game and Kieran was 2nd to last to hit. When the last batter hits, all players on base run home and then the game is over. I see the first base coach lean in to Kieran to tell him to watch the batter and when he hits the ball, run around the bases.

The batter hits and Kieran takes off. He rounds second, third and goes all the way home, only to see the batter still standing there. It was a foul ball - so Kieran is directed back to first base to wait for a real hit. As he runs back to his base I hear him yell "Yay! I get to do it all again!"

Amelia, by the Numbers

I cannot believe she's 9 months old already. OK, what I really can't believe is that she's 9 months old and only slept through the night 2-3 times. UGH.

But, enough of that - here's her stats:

26 3/4 inches tall
15 0.8 oz.
16.25 head circumference

She's finally on the chart for head circumference (3rd percentile) and is 5th percentile for everything else. She's tiny, but mighty. She's on track for all her developmental milestones.

No shots this time, but they did a finger prick test for iron and she's a little low (they want 11, she was 9.75 or some such). Not a big deal, but she is already constipated and taking iron will not help that. We have to lay off the bananas, increase her prune intake and see if she'll start drinking water (she is not a fan of juice) to try and alleviate the issue. She's pooping once a day but they are hard as rocks.

Anyway - all in all we're doing OK. Kieran has overcome his bout with pinkeye, Amelia no longer has thrush and I am clearing up the yeast infection that Mia gave me (thanks, baby girl). Ken is finally back to exercising after breaking his ribs though they still seem to pain him a bit. Been a bad year for us medical-wise. I'm hoping that turns around.

Doctor wants me to try and transition Amelia to a lovey to see if that will help her start sleeping through the night. I'm hopeful and will try it all. Most nights she's only up once, but lately she's been up a few times. I think she may be teething, but she's so even-keeled during her awake time it's hard to tell (Kieran was heck on wheels all the time when teething).

We're just about ready to sign Kieran up for his summer camp - Karate and swimming. He's very excited. I'll be happy that both kids will be near the office and I won't have to do the crazy running around to pick them both up on nights when Ken works late (or is away at a conference). That's enough for now - I promise more stories of kids later.

Love to all, blog again sometime.

Sleep is NOT Overrated

I don't think I can stress that enough. A good night's sleep is everything. Unfortunately, Amelia seems to think that I can get by without it. She is wrong. Oh, so wrong.

I'm not sure if it was just because she's congested (Kieran, Amelia and I are all coming down with this cold at the same time), she had a strange day (napped late, Becca party and watching people at the aquarium), or just because she wants to eff with me. Whatever the reason, she didn't fall asleep until 9 PM last night, then was up multiple times. So many times that I really don't remember. My brain is fuzzy today and I am sucking down the coffee to keep my brain afloat.

Kieran, on the other hand, managed to do much better this weekend than he has in awhile. After threatening to keep him home from the birthday fun on Sunday unless he got his act together, Kieran listened well and followed directions all day Saturday (and Sunday too). As a reward I showed him the new Despicable Me 2 trailer on YouTube last night. He and I have now watched it about 5 times and still giggle each time we see it.

Unfortunately, when I dropped him off this morning he was already starting in with his need to entertain. He was singing the "let's get together and kill Barney" song as he walked in the door today. I reprimanded him and the teacher also indicated she was very tired of that particular tune. Still hoping he'll have a good day... we'll see.

Guess What?

This is Kieran's new favorite catch phrase. He will start a story this way and then for each sentence he'll end with "... and guess what?" I think he just wants to be sure we're paying attention.

He told us that "you kiss people you love, and you only kiss if you're married". Then he proceeded to tell us that he was going to marry Gracie (friend at school). When asked about it, he confessed that Gracie told him they would be married. Later, I wanted to know if he wanted to marry Gracie. He said "I will." I reiterated that I knew he said he would marry her but I wanted to know if he wanted to marry her. He smiled and said again that he would marry her.

Ken said he's not telling Gracie's dad any of this.

Maybe Next Time

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.

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.

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.