Experiment Fail

My great toddler sleep hypothesis failed miserably. Yesterday I took great efforts to try to recreate all of the conditions that I thought led to his sleeping through the night. We went bouncing, we played outside and I gave him ibuprofen for his molars before bedtime. Lying his sweet little head down on his crib mattress, I was sure that success was within reach.

Three hours later he began screaming like an irate chimpanzee. He didn't want a bottle, nor was he particularly happy being snuggled and rocked. He was just angry and seemed oddly content to scream and pound every surface he touched.  He stayed awake for about 40 minutes only to wake up 3 hours later.

By 3 AM I was exhausted . Half asleep, I began to repeat the miserable cycle. I instinctively threw off the covers, mumbled something unbecoming a lady and went to go soothe my little monster.

BAM! I had forgotten one important step in my routine. I failed to put on my leg. Talk about a horrible way to start my Friday.

I'm limping into the weekend, so I figure it can only get better from here!

Hitting the Lottery (toddler style)

I am waking up after experiencing what feels like a miracle. No, we didn't win the Powerball. Timmy (and by default allowing me) slept soundly through the night. I can't remember the last time I had a solid night's sleep at home. I feel like I could run a marathon. (Okay, maybe not a marathon. But I definitely feel able to run after my toddler and in many ways that is the same thing.)

I am hoping that I stumbled upon the magic bullet for Timmy's sleep issues. I think that his restful slumber last night was a combination of heavy exercise (thanks to a late afternoon visit to the bounce house) and ibuprofen for his molars. Today we are going to repeat the schedule and see if we have the same results.

Both boys would be delighted if I made a visit to the Bounce House part of our daily schedule. Since the weather has turned cold and they have transitioned to indoor recess, Robby seems to have an abundance of energy when I pick him up from school. Allowing him to move and play after working so hard in school is probably good for him. The brothers excitedly ran into an inflatable structure and happily play (together) until they were both sweaty and panting.

If I were to be completely honest, I discovered that I have an affinity for bouncing as well.  There is something liberating about just bouncing, sliding, laughing and playing with both of my kids. As an added bonus, I've discovered that bouncing burns an obscene number of calories!

A helpful tip to anybody with a leg prosthesis who is going to enter a bounce house: do not put a sock over the foot shell because you will have a much harder time gaining traction to climb the slides.

Teething Terror

Timmy has been teething, which has turned my sweet little cherub into a demonic alien at night. Over the past few days he hasn't slept beyond two hours at a time, awaking angry and without a specific purpose. I've tried everything to soothe and calm him, only to be answered by the wrath of a high pitched scream breaking through the quiet night. 

I keep reminding myself that this stage won't last forever. Rocking him at 2 AM, I kept reminding myself that soon this time will be a memory. I had almost convinced myself that I was happy for the cuddle time when I tip toed into his room to tuck him back into bed. As soon as I placed him down his angry eyes opened and he began to shriek, spoiling the sweet Momom moment. 

Lately I have been feeling the brunt of a profound reality. I am in my 40's, and mothering a toddler at this age is considerably different then when I was in my 30's. While I still don't feel middle aged emotionally, my body constantly reminds me of the cruel forces of biology. I'm simply not able to bounce back from sleepless nights like I did a decade ago.

No Sick Days for Momom

I have fought admitting it for as long as I can, but I'm coming to accept the inevitable reality. I'm not feeling well today. I'm not sick enough to stay in bed (not that Timmy would allow it even if it were necessary) but I'm feeling punky enough to feel miserable.

I'm contemplating going to the doctor, but the thought of schlepping Timmy through the appointment only intensifies my headache. He is at a stage where we avoid taking him into public at all costs. I never know when he will throw himself on the floor and wail all of his limbs in a full blown tantrum. He morphs from my cute little Hamlet into Timmy the Terrible faster than Clark Kent twirls into Superman.

I wish I could take a nap, but Timmy's erratic schedule and my work obligations aren't going to allow that luxury.  Hopefully a few more cups of coffee (and some strong decongestants) will help me get through the day. I think it is going to be a long day!

Babyproofing Foiled

My goodness the weekend just flew by! It seems like I was just curling up with Robby to watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (his traditional Friday night movie choice). I wish I could say that the weekend moved so quickly because we were busy and productive. Unfortunately I am looking around and trying to figure out just where we spent our time, because it certainly wasn't spent tackling anything on our to do list.

Although I can't say I was overly productive, I am going to give myself credit for finishing our home baby proofing project.  Timmy has been into absolutely everything and while everything dangerous was put out of reach, I was tired of cleaning up the plastic storage containers and slotted spoons that he enjoyed throwing from the drawers. Coupled with his trying to splash in the toilet at every opportunity, I was happy to finally Timmy-proof the house.

After spending about $80 and two hours on the project, I felt satisfied with a job well done. Timmy took the locked drawers as a challenge and was able to figure out the mechanism within five minutes. I now have two shoe boxes filled with my cooking utensils on the counter and empty drawers with expensive, albeit useless, baby locks installed. 

The toilet lock has proven beneficial, thwarting every attempt Timmy has made to break it open. Unfortunately it has also stumped his brother, whom I found urinating in the drain down the bathtub because of a urination emergency. He couldn't figure out how to open the lid of the toilet in time. I suppose I should be happy that he chose the bathtub over our deck. 

Today I will go back to the baby proofing drawing board. I need to figure out a way to keep my little Hamlet Houdini safe!