Aidan's First Sick Day

Friday, Aidan woke up with a fever, no appetite, and a need to be clingy. No preschool for him. We only made it a week and a half before he had a sick day. Oh well. So, I called the doctor and made him an appointment. Olivia's been congested all week and Julien had strep last week so I figured it was a good idea. Turns out he has an ear infection. She checked Olivia since she was there too and Olivia looks fine. She said just to ride out the congestion and keep up with the vaporizer and elevating the head of her mattress. Poor Aidan complained his ear hurt off and on all Friday. But he slept better on Friday night. Thursday night was a rough night for Aidan. He didn't sleep well and he wet the bed. But, the first dose of antibiotic seemed to perk him up a lot. He's been so excited about Uncle Adrian coming too. He can't wait to play with him. So, the holiday week begins for us today. Nana and Grandpa are coming soon and then Turkey Day! Hopefully we'll all be healthy for it.

Ferber Method, Night 4 and Tonight Too

Last night was night #4 of the Ferber method. Olivia made a little noise briefly but, no real crying. She still isn't sleeping all that great due to her congestion so she was up often. Boy does she get mad when you suction her nose out too. I hope she gets better soon. I could really use some sleep and not in short bursts. Tonight, Olivia went down without a peep. In fact, she's made less noise than Aidan has. ("I gotta go potty, I want a toy, Rub my back." ) Either way, it's nice to have a routine for putting both the kids down. Makes the house feel kind of normal again.

Ferber Method, Night 3

Last night was night #3 for the Ferber method. Olivia fussed a little longer than the night before but, it's only a matter of time before she doesn't put up a fight. She got up often last night again. I'm really hoping that changes soon. Aidan got up twice to go potty last night. As annoying as that was, I was glad he got up and didn't end up wetting the bed. With all the getting up, I was glad that I went to bed early last night. The extra hour and a half really helped today. I was able to start cleaning the house. Adrian gets in Saturday. We are all super excited about that. And Nana and Grandpa get in early next week. Lots to do to get ready for Thanksgiving. It'll be a busy week! Aidan continues to love preschool. He has no problem leaving me in the morning and he's always happy to see me when I come to pick him up. Today he came home with a turkey they made out of foam shapes and pom poms. Very cute. Tomorrow is a playgroup day and we are going bowling. Should be interesting! Well, better go finish cleaning up. Yoga class is tonight! Yay for yoga class!

Runny Noses

My poor little girl did not sleep well last night. She woke up frequently due to congestion. You could tell today that she didn't get a lot of rest. This morning her nose started to run a bit and her eyes were watery. Throw in her drool and she was kind of slimy today. Poor thing. I'm not sure if it's just a cold or if teething has something to do with it too. I really do think she's teething. I know Julien probably thinks I'm nuts but I see two ridges on her bottom gums and she is drooling a lot lately. Anyway, she was a sleepy girl today. And she didn't eat a lot at one sitting but ate often. She did a little better tonight before bed. She was happy to see Daddy too as she cuddled up with him and slept on his belly. He thought she felt a little warm so he took her temp and it was 99.8. So we gave her some tylenol, put a vaporizer in her room, and got her ready for bed. Funny enough, she only cried for a few minutes, 5-10 tops, then she passed out. I don't know if the sleep training deserves the credit or the tylenol and cold does. Either way, both my kids are in bed and quiet by 9p and that's awesome!

The Ferber Method, Night 1

When Aidan was 3 1/2 months old, we used a sleep training method called the Ferber method to help him learn to fall asleep on his own in his crib. You establish a bedtime routine to follow every night and then put them in their crib to sleep. After a couple minutes they usually protest and you wait 5 minutes before going in to comfort them briefly. Then you wait 10 minutes and repeat the process, adding 5 minutes to the wait time until they fall asleep. It took Aidan 4 nights before he fell asleep with no crying at all. It was awesome and he continues to be a good sleeper and a kid who likes his bed.

Now Olivia is 3 1/2 months old. And it's time for her to sleep in her crib and learn to fall asleep on her own. So last night we started the Ferber method with her too. At first, her protest was very loud. Let's just say she was a little peeved. But, after about 30-40 minutes, she was quiet. I couldn't believe it. I peeked in on her to check and she was very close to sleep if not sleeping already. When she got up for her night feeding (which we are down to one or two, depending on the night) she went right back to sleep. So, she was up at 1a and then again at 6a then slept till 8a. I'm hoping that tonight will be as easy. Aidan cried for 1 1/2 hours his first night so I was ready for a really tough fight with Olivia. Julien and I were both surprised that it wasn't a knock down, drag out fight. Don't get me wrong, her cry at first was fierce. But it didn't last as long as Aidan's steady pitiful cry did. Either way, I'm looking forward to being able to just put her to sleep in her crib and sleeping through the night. Once that happens I think the days will go a lot smoother for us all.

Update on the Ferber Front. It's been an hour since Olivia was put to sleep. She cried off and on until about 8:40. So about 40 minutes, give or take. And there was a few periods of quiet before you would hear her fighting sleep. So I am hopeful this process will go quickly. I'll let you how it goes.

A Very Challenging Week

This week has proven to be a difficult one. Anyone who's talked to me this week or read my Facebook posts knows I've been a eensy bit stressed. It all started with the fabulous idea to go paint pottery with Aidan. So what does he do? He throws a fit getting into the car because we weren't going to school that day. So the errands I was going to run on the way to the pottery place got put on hold as I drove out of the way so Aidan could see his school. When we got to the pottery place after a lot of crying and whining, it was closed. So frustrating. So, back home we go with nothing accomplished and half the day wasted. We get out of the car to hear a strange hissing noise that after talking with my dad, seems to be the a/c condenser or the hoses for it leaking. Great. I make an appointment to take the car in on Thursday. The next day was Wednesday and Aidan's first day of preschool. Julien woke up with a sore throat and ended up at the doctor's while I took Aidan to school. Julien came home with antibiotics and strep throat. He was so sick that he was home for 2 days. Wednesday afternoon we had plans to go try the pottery place again with our friends Catie and Clarissa from playgroup. Well, Clarissa woke up with a fever and hives so once again the pottery was a no go. Which was for the best anyway since Aidan threw a huge fit leaving preschool and was tired. That night wasn't much better. In between getting up with Olivia, Aidan cried for me as he had wet the bed. So, I got him cleaned up and changed his sheets. Thursday our neighbor Mike helped me drop off the van. If the a/c condenser was the problem it would be covered under the extended service plan we bought and we could get a rental too. Great, the first thing to look up this week. I go out to find Mike and Aidan (Aidan rode with him in the truck there.) What is Aidan doing but throwing a huge fit cause he can't play in the kids' room there. Really Aidan? So, I promise some outside time and the fit subsides. I wait at home to hear about the van and take a walk with the kids. I get the call and it's not good news. It is the condenser but it looks like a rock hit it and that's not covered. Oh and that will be $870 by the way. Did you hear that thump? That was me hitting the floor. So I tell them to order the part since they don't have one but I will call back about the van. I have a complete heart attack and then call Julien. Who calls the shop and then calls our insurance. If it was road debris, that should be covered by comprehensive coverage, like a windshield. So, the adjuster will be out Tuesday, which means we have to have the car back to the shop then and we'll find out then. But they made a rental reservation for us that day which was nice of them. We'll see if we use it. So since we didn't pick up the van until Friday afternoon, I was driving the Civic. Julien would get a ride to work on Friday. Except for the fact that he didn't set his alarm right and let his cell phone die. So he woke up late and missed the call from his ride. Really Julien? So I get ready enough real quick and get the kids in the car to take him in. Lucky for him we live so close. Then back home to get ready and off to school. Where I find out that he needs a white t-shirt soon for his field trip shirt. Like ASAP. So, after leaving there I go to Target, pick one up, head home and throw it in the wash right away so it will be ready when I go to get him. 3 hours goes by quick! When I get him that afternoon, there was no fit. He was ready with his stuff and showed me what he made and his good listener award for the week. So proud of him! Talked to his teachers quick. Apparently he and the other boys like to wrestle. We'll have to work on that. Head to the post office real quick before going home and that's where he decides to have his fit. At this point I am so fed up from the week I've had I make him go in and I sit him against the wall and tell him to stay there while I mail something. I didn't care that he was crying and throwing a fit and I didn't care who saw him. I was going to get this errand done and then we were going home. I put him back in the car and went home. Now this may not sound like much to some of you. I know some people reading this have had truly difficult times lately and I'm not trying to say my problems are worse than theirs. But, it was a week of one thing going wrong and, before you could deal with that problem, another stress popped up. Add in their Olivia having a bad night or two, finding a hole in one the only pairs of jeans that fit, and the cat making noise when you're trying to sleep, and it all kind of accumulates. Now, there were moments of peace. Like Wednesday night when I started yoga class with my friend Jen. That was fun and I'm amazed I'm not more sore. And Friday night when I got to sleep and Julien got up. And Saturday, when we finally got to paint pottery with our friends like we had planned in the beginning. It was a lot of fun and Aidan did a really good job. We picked up the ones he had done a couple weeks ago with playgroup and they were really cute. So, I feel that my week has come full circle. I was able to finally accomplish the first thing that got me tripped up this week. So, I have broken the curse of the bad juju and I can move on. Here's to a good week to come!

Aidan's First Day of Preschool!

Well, finally the big day was upon us! Wednesday marked Aidan's first day of preschool at the Y. He was up, dressed and ready to go by 7:30a. We didn't need to leave until 8:30a. I had no idea he would be so motivated to go so I had plenty of time. Aidan had a hard time being patient and kept demanding we leave already. At least he was excited. So, we got ready, took our obligatory first day picture and we were off. We had a little talk in the car about how he would be there for a couple hours then Mommy would come get him. We talked about how our friend Gabi would be there today and how he could ask the teachers for help in the bathroom if he needed to. He informed me that he wasn't going to ask for help going potty because he didn't need it. I told him I thought that was great and that I knew he could do it himself. When we walked in he didn't take off his coat or backpack, he went straight to playing with the other kids. I talked to his teachers and got all the paperwork straight while he was busy. We talked about his potty skills and his thumbsucking. (I had put in the comments section of his enrollment form that I didn't want anyone pressuring him to stop because that's his way of coping.) Before I left I tried to tell him where the bathroom was and what his teacher's name was but, he was too busy digging in the sand table. So I made him give me a kiss. As I left he was off playing with something else or I didn't bother to say goodbye. I figured that he was fine and he really didn't need me too. So Olivia and took off to run errands just the two of us. Now, that was a strange feeling. And for some reason, she sleeps through whatever store you go to when a certain someone isn't distracting her. :) I really thought when I dropped Aidan off that I would get upset and cry driving away from him. I was really surprised when I didn't. I was worried about him and was hoping that he was doing ok and that he could use the bathroom all right by himself with a big toilet. But, I didn't feel that sad weepy feeling. I guess him not being upset helped me not to feel upset too. When it was time to get him, I left Olivia home with Julien. (Who was sick for two days this week with strep. I wish the people at his work would stop coming in sick and sharing germs.) When I walked in his room, he looked at me and put his thumb in his mouth. Apparently he hadn't sucked his thumb all morning. I could tell he was exhausted. The teachers said he did really well for his first day. He listened some of the time, which I was expecting to hear. But all in all, a good day. Well, I guess Aidan had so much fun that he didn't want to leave. He threw a complete fit when I tried to make him go. I had to physically drag him out in front of the other parents. How embarrassing! We had a talk tonight during bath that we weren't going to do that again. That we would say goodbye to our teachers and leave quietly. We shall see. After school we went to McDonald's where he told me all about his morning. He told me that he painted with his hands but needed help turning on the water to wash up. He said that some boy took some other girl's book. He told me that he had milk and cookies for snack. But the teacher had to turn off the lights to get their attention cause they weren't listening. Apparently this made an impression because he told me about it a couple times. I'll have to try that one at home. :) Most importantly I think he had a good time. He's excited to go back tomorrow. He has show and tell so I have to find something that starts with J for him to take. One day and he already has homework!

Aidan's soccer class is over now. He got a little metal at the end of class that he liked a lot. He did really well for 15 minutes of class and then told Daddy he was done. He sat out the rest of class. We could not for the life of us convince him to go back. So we let him sit and watch. Maybe when he's older we'll try again. Right now, he just wants to have fun and play. So that's what we'll do.