The Napping Saga

While most of the time I post about all of the sweet memories we make and all of that, it isn't always rainbows and sunshine around here!  Lately we have been struggling with Ryan and his nap schedule - or lack thereof.  He's never been on a daytime routine because of having Katie's and Jack's routines to keep in mind, and that has worked for us.  But on days when we are home and it would be a normal naptime (for instance, days when Jack does not have school), it sure would be fantastic to have him nap (and at the same time as Jack would be even better)!

Just before he was 9 months old, Ryan was waking at night quite a bit.  I don't know if it was teething or congestion from allergies or what, but knock on wood that has been better.  Part of it could also have been being overly tired.  Yes, that does happen - if sleep patterns are disrupted, they sleep even less often times!  Mix that in with lack of schedule during the day and I was going nuts!  We didn't want to address the daytime sleep issues until after spring break. 

When we got back from the beach, I got a humidifier to help with any congestion.  That has helped some - or at least I think it has.  It certainly hasn't hurt!  And we started trying to pay attention to Ryan's cues of being sleepy.  And it wasn't working.  Like at all.  We would rock and rock and literally the minute we stood up, he would scream.  I put him in his crib to "cry it out" -- two hours later, he was still crying.  So that obviously didn't work.  I tried different times of day.  I tried one nap per day.  Nothing was really working.  I even called the pediatrician's office!  Their suggestion?  Change the bedtime routine and do NOT rock him.  Let him learn to soothe himself to sleep at night when he is used to sleeping better and hopefully that will carry over to napping.  So we did it.  And it went so much better than I thought it would!  He cried for maybe 2 or 3 minutes at first - and then it got to be less and less.  And this week?  He is quiet and goes to sleep! 

So we do our bedtime routine and get him ready for bed and read a book and then attempt to feed him a bottle (that would be the "other issues") and rock and sing Jesus Loves Me and then lay him in bed.  And it is finally working for bedtime!

Now.  Napping.  I have to say - he is doing SO MUCH better with the falling asleep.  And he doesn't cry for minutes and minutes and hours.  But it is still not really smooth.  It is improving though!  Here is a brief synopsis of posts I have done on Instagram or Facebook related to our Napping Saga.

April 18: Remember that whole he-needs-to-take-naps-and-in-his-crib deal I posted about last night? Well apparently he got the memo about self-soothing, but he just didn't make it to the crib! Ryan apparently decided the floor in the middle of playing was the best place for a 45 minute snooze. Not sure whether to call that progress or not!



April 19: A Ryan-needs-to-nap-in-the-crib update! We did an earlier lunch and I layed him down at 12:08. I checked the monitor at 12:18 and found this! Less than 10 minutes to be asleep - YES!!! Day 1 of success. Now let's hope he gets a good nap in! -- he woke up about 10 minutes after I posted this because Jack fell off the couch and woke him up.  Poor third child!

April 21: An update on the napping! Yesterday he fell asleep within 5 mins but then only slept for 20 mins. An hour of crying later and he fell asleep again for another 20 mins. And that was all the napping he did yesterday.  Today, we dropped Jack off at MDO and came to TJ Maxx and I turned around and see this. I think we have the self-soothing under control. Now if we can just work on napping in his bed!!!!

 April 27: I'll call today a Monday Mommy Success! We went to an event at church and the boys had a blast in childcare! I had to work wonders in the car to keep Ryan awake until we got home...fed him a bottle and I layed him down at 12:11...AND HE SLEPT UNTIL 2:02!!!! And Jack was asleep a few minutes after 1. So I got a full hour to myself!!! Woohoo! Did the treadmill and both the plank and squat challenge for today! Hooray!

 April 29:  Wow! I layed Jack down at 1:45 and he's still asleep. I layed Ryan down at 1:59 and just had to wake him and try to feed a bottle before Katie's birthday dinner (woke him at 4:33). Holy cow!!!!! -- that means he slept for TWO HOURS AND THIRTY FOUR MINUTES!!!!!

So from all of this I have learned that potentially Ryan does a better job if he gets a short nap in in the morning and then can be home and get a really good nap in during the afternoon.  Of course there are issues with that because we have to pick Jack up in the middle of the afternoons two days a week.  But I am just doing the best I can with all this craziness. 

 

Today he slept maybe 30 minutes in the jogging stroller when we were out on a walk (probably slept around 10:10 - 10:40ish).  And then he played on the floor...and he ate lunch around 1. Then I took him upstairs and attempted a bottle (unsuccessfully) and then layed him down.  I could hardly believe it!  I kept checking the monitor to make sure he was really still asleep and every time he sure was!

 

It would be great to be able to get a good 1.5 hour nap in the morning and then a 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon, but I will take what I can get!  His morning naps are usually only like 24 minutes (no, not a typo - it seems it really is that long typically...very precise! ha).  But if we have to get in the car and head anywhere for any reason, he is out in the carseat.  A moving car and a remotely tired baby equals a car nap.

 

I'm also hoping that this summer when we don't have Katie's school schedule to worry about - plus Ryan would naturally phase down to one nap a day - we will really work on getting one good nap at a similar time each day.  For now, I am thankful that he got a good nap today.  And boy, oh, boy am I hoping that this becomes a trend!  I do like the fact that I can just lay him down after maybe 20 seconds of rocking and he rarely makes a peep.  So I will take small victories any day!

 

And since I love pictures, here is one from our walk yesterday!  He actually fell asleep right after I took this - ha!

Today he slept for 25 minutes this morning and 30 minutes this afternoon - both in his crib.  Ugh.  Ryan - please sleep longer!!!! :)  I am thankful he isn't just screaming, but for the love!  A total of 55 minutes of napping in one day just isn't enough!  Hopefully he will get that message soon :)  And here is just one more of him today!  He is getting into everything these days...today I noticed a difference in his ability to pull up on just about anything.  Watch out, world!

 

 

Exciting Firsts + Transitions

This past weekend was full of new experiences for Mr. Ryan.  I thought I would wait and include all of this in his 5 month post, but I decided to go ahead and post these cute pictures.  There are a lot of other posts (including fall décor, carving a pumpkin, Katie's first field trip, and of course Halloween) coming soon, but this is what has been happening lately!

 

I finally got the exersaucer out and Brad put it back together!  Katie and Jack both loved it, and I think Ryan will too!  Once he gets a little taller and can jump around in it is likely when that time will come :) For now, when he gets in it, he still looks at everything in awe of it all!  And he gets his right arm caught in the leg hole when he's tired and not weight bearing anymore!  Here he is during his first time playing in it!

Later Sunday night, Ryan had his first baby cereal!  He did wonderfully with it (no one in our family has trouble with eating, for the most part)!  The top left is when I put him in the highchair and the top right is after his first bite. He was a little unsure at first.  And then, as evidenced by the bottom left, he was excited to get more!  And then the bottom right is after he finished it all!  And since he is now eating that, he has also gone down to 5 feedings a day!  WOOWOO! Ha.  I'm so glad he seems to like cereal!  In fact, tonight, when I fed it to him (which is usually around 6:00/6:15), he was so excited to eat it, and he even opened his mouth for bites when he saw the spoon coming!  Amazing!  And he scarfed down a tablespoon of cereal with moo juice mixed in.  I'm thinking I may be able to start giving him a little more! 

And then on Monday morning, Ryan took his first nap in the crib!  That is interesting to attempt when Jack is home, but I am eager to try to establish some form of routine for Ryan (with extreme flexibility of course) now.  If we are home and it is when he naps, I need to do better about it being in the crib and not the swing.  Afterall, he won't be able to hang in the swing too much longer!  A lot of time he also naps on the go with all the things we do and places we go.  With Jack here, I can't leave Jack unsupervised for 20+ minutes while I feed Ryan and lay him down.  So I try to feed Ryan downstairs and then walk him up to his crib - but walking up the stairs usually wakes him up.  This time I put a movie on for Jack and went and rocked Ryan until he fell asleep.  We did try on his back but he wouldn't have that.  Once I put him down on his belly, he slept almost 2 hours and did not budge.

And then Monday night, he slept in his crib for the first time at night!  Woohoo!  He did awesome.  I fed him around 9 and layed him down after that and ended up having to wake him up at 6:45 to feed him so I could get my morning routine going.  He did wake up around 12:45 but just needed his binky.  He has done well ever since!  Last night he was slightly more restless but it still wasn't bad.  I think him waking more when he was in here must have been because he heard us rolling over or something or Sadie jumping off/on the bed or repositioning.  I'm so glad he is doing well in there!

I can't believe we are already to all of these different stages with this sweet little guy!  We are so blessed that he is such a go-with-the-flow kind of baby!  And boy do I hope he continues to sleep well at night! :)

 

I'm Here, I Promise!

Man, life is nuts.  I sure do miss blogging.  And I have all these ideas for posts bouncing around in my head.  I think I'm getting close to being able to blog most days.  First, I need to get Ryan on some semblance of a schedule (as much as I can with having two other crazies).  And second, he needs to go to bed at a normal bedtime and in his own room and bed.  We are on our way there - he slept in his crib last night and did wonderfully!  He only got up once needing his pacifier at like 12:30 (much better than the last two weeks in our room).  Sure hope that becomes a trend!

 

Having three kids is certainly no joke.  And very busy.  And oh so fun.  I need to do a recap of August (oops), September, and likely October...as well as several other catch up posts so I can get back to what we are currently up to!  So please keep reading. And check back often.  And if you have any ideas on posts you'd like to see (maybe a "daily grind" kind of post with what a day in my life looks like?), let me know!

 

For now, here are some pictures that I love and haven't had time to show you (all from about a month ago)!

 

 

Unexpected Moment

Katie got home from school and we jumped into the car to go to a local store in order for me to get fingerprinted.  I needed to have this done in order to volunteer at school - including being able to go on field trips with Katie and her class.

On the way, Katie started telling me about her day.  This is somewhat unusual - she usually wants a snack and gets distracted playing with Jack once she hits the door.  Maybe we should ride around in the car after school more often so she will give me more details? :)

All of a sudden, she said, "We learned another drill today at school, Momma!"  I knew they had a fire drill.  So that would be one type.  A second type is a bus drill.  And then she said, "So we have three kinds of drills now!  We have fire drills, bus drills, and this new one!"  I then asked her what the new one was.  I 100% expected her to say a tornado drill and then proceed to tell me about sitting in the hall against a wall with her head down and covered.

Boy, was I wrong.  And boy was I unprepared.

She said, "It is a drill where my teacher locks the classroom door and turns out the lights.  And then we go into the cubby room and turn the lights out.  And we get in our cubby.  We take our backpack off the hook and stand in our cubby and put the backpack in our lap.  And you know what the drill is for?  It is if there is a stranger.  If someone is around and they don't have a visitor sticker.  And we get in our cubby and hide.  It is kind of like playing hide and seek.  So, I guess it is a hide and seek drill!"

No words.  For at least 30 seconds.  Just tears.  And I have no clue why.  I know these are real life issues.  The first thing I thought about was Sandy Hook and the families that dropped their children off that morning or put them on a bus and then didn't get them back into their arms later in the day.

I also realized that this was a day that chipped away at Katie's innocence.  I assume they went through the drill.  And it was likely explained in this manner to the kids so that they understood what it was for as best as their little minds could comprehend.

I cried.  And it wasn't just a tearing up.  I literally had tears streaming down my cheeks.  It makes me tear up to even think about this.  What if Katie (or Jack or Ryan in the future) is faced with a situation where they really have to put this "hide and seek drill" into practice?  I pray that her teacher is calm and orderly and soothing and hugs them.  I pray that the school staff is adequately trained.  I pray that my children will remain calm and do as they are told.  But most of all.  Most of all I pray we never face that situation.

Things have changed so much since I was a student.  Fingerprinted to volunteer?! Seriously?! Of course I want to be involved so I will do what it takes.  I just hate that we live in a society where that is necessary.  And all the rules to eat lunch with your child. Man, oh, man.  You sign in at the office and get a sticker and they keep your keys so you can't leave without checking out.  And you can't stand out in the lobby area of the school.  You have to stay in the office until you see your child's class walking toward the cafeteria.  I so appreciate the levels of safety and all of that since Katie is there more than she is at home (waking hours) during the week.  I just wish we didn't have to go to those extremes.

And tonight?  I gave her extra hugs.  I am so thrilled that she loves kindergarten and her teacher and her new friends.  But I tear up each time I see her innocence chipped away.  I want her to keep that sense of wonder for as long as she possibly can.  That belief that everyone does good.  But I also want her to be real and realistic.  So here we are.  Learning about and practicing the "hide and seek drill"....

I know this post rambled a bit.  But I just can't get this out of my mind.  And hearing Katie rehash it when she talked to Brad tonight...it just made me realize that I am going to do all I can to help her see and remember all of the positives in the world while also "keeping it real."

We Survived Our First Solo Week

Last week was the first week Brad traveled for work - and we survived!  He was gone Monday through Friday and it made for a very long week!  The kids really miss him when he is gone (especially Katie) and I miss him and his help with the kids (especially at bathtime/bedtime)!

 

Thank goodness for the help of friends and family!  We had dinner with friends (hooray for me not having to cook that night!), family that helped with the boys for me to go to Katie's soccer practice and parent orientation for Jack at mother's day out, people that brought food and/or came to visit - whew!  Such a nice treat to have help!

 

Katie loved talking to Brad on the phone each day.  And she is now really having lengthy, thoughtful conversations!  So sweet :)

And this guy was so happy in the mornings! I am so thankful he is such an easygoing guy!

And some brother snuggles one day before going to the park with some of Jack's friends!

Unbelievable!  SIX two year olds.  Standing still.  And standing together.  And looking.  And smiling.  Couldn't do it again if we tried!

The kids had finished breakfast one morning and I ran upstairs to change clothes and brush my teeth and came downstairs to this.  Katie was reading to Jack - so sweet!  She was looking at the pictures and making up a story based on what she saw.  And Jack loved it!

Ryan and I went with my mom to see my Meme!  She just moved and I wanted to see her new place - and she loves getting to snuggle Ryan!

Friday morning before we went down to the bus stop, both kids were so sweet.  I just love this picture! 

 And Ryan was a happy guy too!  I am fairly certain his cheeks grew overnight last Thursday night :) Brad definitely thought he filled out more while he was gone!

I was pretty excited that Daddy was coming home - and Sadie was too :) Can't you tell? HA!  She was actually a scaredy dog that morning because the batteries in the smoke detector in the garage needed replacing and it was beeping.  She was so crazy that she LOCKED ME OUT OF THE HOUSE.  Yes you read that right.  I had gotten the boys in the stroller for a walk and she jumped up on the door and managed to flip the lock.  Thank GOODNESS my neighbors have a key!

Sweet Sadie - happy once Dad got home and replaced the battery :)

Jack is so sweet to Ryan - he constantly wants to give him a "tiss" and makes sure his blanket stays on him in the swing.  The only naughty thing he tends to do is grab Ryan's foot and pull when they are in the stroller going down to the bus stop!  And I think he only does that when Ryan's foot gets over on his side.  Let the fun begin :)

I am glad to know I can survive a week of solo parenting.  Especially since it is about to happen way more than I enjoy.  Let the fun begin!  And hopefully the kids will be as good the next couple weeks :)

 

They're All Mine - For Better And For Worse

I am so glad I can take a step back and realize how lucky and blessed I am.  This summer, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have had all three kiddos by myself.  And it is slightly chaotic, but we survive!  Well, yesterday was the most trying of them all.  Katie wouldn't listen to save her life.  Jack is two and acting every minute of it.  And Ryan - thank goodness for his sweetness.  He started having little laughs when he smiled yesterday.  Sweet, sweet sounds.  But whew.  It was one thing after another...one of those days where I was literally counting down the seconds until bedtime.

 

But when it comes down to it, I have to remind myself that these kids are good kids.  Everyone has a bad day from time to time (note: it would be spectacular if Katie and Jack would try and time theirs on different days so as to not drive their mother insane.)  And while yesterday was insane, there were good, special moments too!

 

When Jack was napping, Katie and I did some art and practiced writing uppercase and lowercase letters (ya know, refreshing before Kindergarten starts) and her name (with the capital K and lowercase other letters).  And then we sat on the front porch for popsicles.  And then she watched a part of a movie while I fed Ryan.

 And this one - I mentioned he was starting to have some little laughs.  And they were precious and sweet and amazing.  Thankfully Ryan is a very sweet, low maintenance baby.  Now if we can just get rid of that middle of the night feeding, Mommy may have an extra bit of patience :) .... Note: This picture was taken almost a month ago.  My, oh, my he has changed!  He looked like a little squish here!

 And "acting his age" couldn't be more appropriate for this one.  He currently has two speeds: running and asleep.  And he is testing boundaries like crazy.  And if his freaking canine teeth don't hurry up and finishing coming through the whole way, we both may explode.  He didn't want to eat yesterday (which I know is fine - he isn't going to waste away...it is just frustrating).  And he was just naughty - eating crayons and not listening and all that jazz.  But there were moments of goodness (thankfully) - when he woke up from his nap, he gave me the biggest hug.  And on a few different occasions, he would walk over and extremely gently give Ryan a kiss on the head.  Sweet, wild child.  This picture is him to a tee - happy as can be and always on the move.

Most of the time, I paint a picture of pure happiness and all that at our house.  I just wanted to say that it isn't necessarily true.  I try to find the positives in each day.  And sometimes it is the whole day.  And then other days, like yesterday, I have to find little moments that made me smile.  And that's what gets me through.  But at the end of each day, I am so thankful and feel so blessed that each of these three calls me Mommy.  Brad and I are blessed enough to be able to be their parents.  Amazing.  Also?  Thank goodness a day is only 24 hours! :)

The Three Stooges

Good gracious - these pictures were three weeks ago.  Unreal.  My first full day with all three on my own, I decided it would be a good idea to try for a photoshoot.  Aye aye aye.  It was interesting to say the least!  But it did yield some pretty cute pictures :)  The kids were in some cute shirts (of course they had to all coordinate) - I especially loved that Jack's and Ryan's were oh so similar.  Katie was bribed with fruit snacks.  Jack wanted exactly NOTHING to do with the pictures.  And Ryan screamed about 95% of the time.  I guess that's what I'm in for when it comes to pictures in the near future :)

 

Love this one - despite Ryan screaming :)

And Jack was being so sweet and leaning in for a hug.

Katie loves to hold him - except she usually gives him back when he fusses.  I think the fruit snacks made her decide to stick with it this time though.

And I love this one!  This was as close to a good one as we were going to get :)

Ya gotta be quick to get a cute one of Jack!  He is wild!

Katie is so sweet - such a super big sis!

And little guy was glad that the pictures were done - he even stopped screaming!

And me?  Well I was glad it was over too :)

Goodness Ryan has changed so much in three weeks!  Such a cute little peanut!

While Jack napped, Ryan hung out in the swing and Katie watched Mary Poppins on her iPad!

Later in the day, I actually caught Jack willing to smile for a quick moment!

And my friend Kara and her three kiddos came over that afternoon and brought dinner and visited!  Ryan was excited to meet her :) In fact, he was so excited he slept most of the time (and ate the rest of the time)!

 Sadie loves the Boppy pillow :)

And then a couple of days later, I had the camera out again!  I decided we needed to get some fresh air, so I blocked off the steps and took the easel onto the deck for the kids to do chalk and then blow bubbles!  I got some great pictures of Jack - he is such a mess.  Here is my favorite series of pictures when we first got out there!

Katie was so excited to get out there and blow bubbles :)

 You can just hear his big laugh when you look at this!  Happy dude!

 And I brought Ryan's little seat out for him to hang out and get fresh air too!

 Boy am I lucky to have this girl to hang out with - we have to stick together since there are so many boys in our house now!

 They were even sweet to each other and had a big time blowing bubbles together!

 Who knows what was going on here - all I know is I love that sweet boy and his appetite for adventure!  Even though his stubbornness wears me out sometimes :)

And they had a blast coloring on the chalk board of the easel!  So glad I took it outside so they could have a big time with it!

 And they even sort of cooperated for a group picture.  It started off with Jack just taking a seat next to Ryan and smiling and then I got Katie to run over there.  When Katie sat on the other side, Jack wanted to sit with her :)

 And once Daddy got home, he and Ryan took a short snooze :)  I have a picture of him with all three of the kids asleep on his chest. 

Things are getting more and more crazy and I hate that I'm not able to blog every day.  I will get back to it once we find a routine though :) So just stick with me on this ride...it is a wild and fun one!