Thursday ramblings

The most amazing thing just happened.  William was tired and ready for a nap.  I took him into his room, put him in his cot, left the room, and ........ he went to sleep.  !!!!!!!!  No crying, no whimpering, not a single solitary peep.

This may not sound like huge news, but it is for us!  With the first two children, I was happy to breastfeed them to sleep.  With Will, it has been harder- mostly because of the needs of the other children, and my health needs too.  Part of our goals to help me sleep better have been to slowly cut back William's feeds (he's still a big feeder!), and gradually teach him to self-settle and sleep through the night (or at least, mostly).  I've been giving him his milk during his awake time, when he asks for it.  Trying him on more solids too.  Then, I wait until I KNOW he is really sleepy (not just when I want him to take a nap!  feeding babies to sleep always works like a sedative but they're not necessarily really tired, and tend to wake more quickly) and we head into his bedroom.  We close the door, turn on the fan, and close the curtains.  I talk softly to him about how tired he is, and how it is time to go to sleep now.  We have a cuddle, then I give him one of his soft little teddies to cuddle, and lay him down in his cot.  Until today, he has always cried a little - either as soon as I put him down, or after a few minutes of playing.  I would then go in after 3 or 4 minutes, pick him up for a quick cuddle, and put him down again.  He would cry again, I would go, wait, come back, cuddle, put him down etc.  The number of times I've had to go in have become fewer.  He has basically always fallen asleep in my arms though, during that quick cuddle as he is so tired!  But today- he fell asleep on his mattress!!!!!  I'm amazed and thrilled.  Not just because of the load it takes off me, but for the contentment and understanding he must have to do that with no tears.  Praise God. :) 

Other bits of news.....

Stuart has been back at work this week, so it's just been the children and I again.  We've been busy playing with the chicks, doing the household stuff, preparing for Chloe's birthday party yesterday, gardening, buying Saraya's schoolbooks and stationary, etc . etc.   I miss Stu so much, it's strange not having him here during the day with me now.  Night times are great though! And he's getting home earlier than during term.  We've watched a few movies together lately.  On to covering & labelling schoolbooks tonight........

In the last week or so, Saraya has started latch-hooking.  She got a little kit from Aunty Chrissy for her birthday, and after working out how to do it she's right into it!  I used to do cross-stitching when I was little, and it's nice to see her learning a craft too.

Last night after the party Saraya slept over at Chloe's house.  This was her first sleepover at a friend's place, so very exciting!  It's been strange not having her home today (they've been playing all day); it's been just the boys and I.  Elijah and I have had fun playing Little People after I did the housework, washing, chicks, etc.  He's watching Spot at the moment while Will naps.

It's funny, I already miss Saraya.  It's always so strange after holidays, having her go back to school.  She's nervous and excited about starting year 2.  Amazing that Gary (Chloe's father, husband of my friend Cathy) will be her teacher- I'm so happy about that!  Nice to know she'll have such an experienced and kind Christian teacher, not to mention family friend.  :)

We're having an Australia day BBQ here on Monday afternoon, complete with Aussie games courtesy of Stuart!  Should be fun.  I need to be really organised, as that's the day before school goes back.  Thursday afternoon Saraya starts swimming lessons, and Wednesday after school will be her 2nd rehearsal for Wizard of Oz.  Have I mentioned that Saraya has joined the cast of munchkins?  The director Tracy asked her if she would like to, as she's often along to rehersals with Stuart and was learning all the songs and choreo anyway!!  She has been tremendously excited about it, measured up for costuming, and had her first rehearsal yesterday.  It's going to do such wonderful things for her shyness; I'm actually amazed to see her out there on the stage with all the children.  It's funny - I've become the stage Mum now!  How strange.  It was always me on the stage, and now it's my little girl.  And my husband.  It really is a dream come true!  Stu said recently that this is our thing, the thing our family will do together.  Thankyou God for bringing us together, and that we can share the same passions and interests as a family!

Photos of the big stars to come, I promise.......

Elijah has just come out, so I'm off to make afternoon tea.  Happy Thursday everyone.  :)

Some good news and some bad news - by William.

Well, finally Mamma agreed to let me have a go typing on the keyboard.  She thinks I'm just bashing around, hitting random keys and enjoying the clinking sounds I'm making.  Ha!  Adults always underestimate what babies can do.........

So, it's William here.  I thought I'd tell you all about our night last night; since Mamma seems to enjoy writing about my sleep patterns so much, I thought I'd do the same.  

Well to start with, things are changing around here.  I used to be offered the breast pretty much whenever I was feeling fussy, which can be a lot of the time.  You know, it's hard being a baby!  If I was hungry, I'd have a long feed, if I was thirsty or just mucking around, I'd suck for a bit until I felt better.  But do you know, Mamma isn't offering me the breast as much this week?  I think yesterday I only had it every 4 or 5 hours!!  Maybe even less!  That's a long wait in between. :( She's tried to give me this funny-tasting milk in a bottle, but I postively refuse to drink that - what a humiliation!!  I'm doing all right though, I do get fed plenty of other foods, plus water from a cup (though I really prefer a glass- I like the way my teeth sound when I

 bite on the edge of it)...... and I've just learned how to crawl around the room a bit, so I keep pretty busy trying to get to objects people put a few feet away from me.  Why is it they always do that?

Mamma seems to be getting a bit desperate lately.  I've heard her talking to Papa, and boy she can get emotional.  What's the big deal about being woken up every hour or two?  The night just seems to go on for so long.......... a boy just needs some attention, some cuddles, some breastmilk - you know what I'm saying?  Anyway, I thought I'd TRY to put more effort in, just to keep the peace.  And Mamma is pretty good to me, so it's the least I can do to try to make things a little easier for her.  Last night I did really well.  I'd take all the credit, but I have the feeling some people might have been praying for me to sleep better too.  Oh, and then there's the fact that I was exhausted.  Mamma thinks she's tired?  Well, maybe she was getting her 

revenge on me or something because she kept me up SO LATE last night!  She and Papa just couldn't get enough of playing with me, jiggling me around playing baby games, singing, rolling me around on the rug, holding me upright (did you know I can stand up?- with a teensy bit of help) for seemingly hours on end.  Phew!  By the time I actually got into my cot, I was had it.  So, I slept for more than 3 hours without waking anyone up.  Mamma seemed pretty happy about this when she came in at 12:30am.  She even gave me a kiss, and  a breastfeed.  Ah, that sweet milk!  So good.

I was so relaxed that I slept again, sprawled out next to my Mamma - until 5am!  Am I good or what?  I had a bit more milk then, and slept until just before 6 when all the birds were making such a racket I just had to get up.  So Mamma did too.

That there was all the good news.  I gave Mamma the best night's sleep she's had in ages.

But um, here's the not so good news.  It's kind-of funny, if you keep a sense of humour about it....

At 4am Mamma woke up.  I know because I opened one eye and could hear her whispering to Papa.  Do you know what?  There was a mouse inside the wall.  It was nibbling on some wood or something, sharpening it's teeth and making more noise than you could imagine!  Mamma didn't sound impressed, and next thing Papa was up fiddling around, tapping on the wall trying to make it be quiet.  Ha!  At least it wasn't ME waking them up!  I might get extra cuddles today (if Mamma's not too cranky about the mouse...)

Everyone seemed settled again, back in bed, until a funny beeping noise started in the living room.  They were up AGAIN (can't a boy get any sleep around here?), and I think Papa took the battery out of the smoke detector because it was going flat and beeping.  Beeping loudly, at 4 in the morning!!  So, the one night I'm not waking them, a mouse and a smoke detector conspire together to prevent my Mamma from sleeping.  Oh dear.  I heard her tell Papa this morning that she never went back to sleep after that mouse started nibbling.  First the mouse, then the beeping, then Elijah came in for a cuddle at around 5am, then I woke up.......... kind-of makes you feel sorry for her, doesn't it? 

Anyway, this has been fun.  I'd like to include a photo of me, just for your enjoyment.  What do you think of my two little teeth?  Pretty cute hey!  Thanks for reading, folks!  

Until next time,  

William.

xo

All I want for Christmas is.........

.................... a full night's sleep.

It's true that I haven't had a full night's sleep since my pregnancy with Saraya, about 7 years ago.  I dream of it.  No, I dream of a stretch of sleep more than 2 hours long.  Just 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep is all I want.  Even 3 hours would be amazing.  4 hours?  Out of this world.  I know I would wake up, jump out of my bed and start dancing - even if it was only 2am.  

My children have never been good sleepers.  They are great kids in many ways, but they just don't sleep well.  William did for the first 3 months of his life, before our family non-sleeping whatever it is rubbed off on him.  And Saraya and Elijah do go through waves of sleeping well.  

But the last two nights have been hilarious.  No not hilarious, horrendous!!  Funny, the first two nights Stuart has finished all his work and actually come to bed early, both of us longing for some really good solid sleep, and all 3 children have kept waking us up, all night long.  Why?  Well, the first night Will woke at around 11:30pm and was awake until 1:30am- not sure why.  Saraya overlapped him and woke at 12:30am with a sore tummy, and was up until about 2am.  By then I was wrecked, but Elijah woke at 3am and was unsettled for awhile.  Will continued to wake and feed every hour or so as he often does at the moment.  I just have him lying in bed with me as it's easier than getting up and down all night.

So by last night we were all really super tired.  Did the children sleep well?  No, despite the fact that I made sure they had heaps of exercise yesterday to tire them, they had eaten well, drunk heaps of water, used the toilet right before sleep, and even had chamomile tea, they did NOT sleep well.  At all.  It was worse than ever!!!!!!  William was up again before I even got to bed, and was restless most of the night.  Saraya started calling for us before we went to bed as well.  She had another drink.  Used the toilet again.  Had cuddles.  Music.  Prayer.  Stu and I went to bed.  After lying awake for awhile I got to sleep at 10:30pm.  Saraya appeared at 11pm.  She apparently needed the toilet again.  Oh, and again at 12am.  And 1:30am..........

By this time I was ready to scream.  You see, I had told her the only reason she could wake me last night is if she needed the toilet.  Hmmm, there's a link there!

Elijah appeared at about 2:30am, wanting a cuddle.  Stu took him back to his bed, but he was back again at 3:30am.  And at 4:30am when he asked for the toilet, I took him, tucked him back in bed and he asked why the birds were singing?  "Is it morning yet mamma?"  "NO!!!!  It is not!!"

Well, that was it for Elijah.  He was in his room playing until 5am when he reappeared.  Stu got a bit cranky and said he needed to stay in his room to play.  Which he did beautifully, though a bit noisily.  And just before 6am when I heard the back door open I went outside to see what on earth he was doing, and this is what I found.

A completely naked boy standing in the back garden with an assortment of containers, baking trays and bath toys.

"Um Elijah, what are you doing?" I asked.

In the happiest, brightest voice you can imagine he replied, "Oh, hello Mamma!!  Do you remember yesterday at Declan's house?  We were doing water play?  Well, I've got everything ready! Could you please get me some water?"

Do you think I obliged?  Yep, I did.  After all, he had been up and amusing himself for an hour and a half by that point.

And somehow that smile just washes away my crankiness.  Well, almost. :)  I'm trying hard to keep it together today.  It is the first day of holidays after all. 

Please pray we get some decent sleep soon!

WOOHOO!!!

Guess what? My beautiful baby bumpkin boy slept SO well last night!!! i am so excited, I just have to share it with you. :)
He went to bed about 7pm. I was going to stay up and watch The Amazing Race with Stuart at 9:30, but was really tired so went to bed around 9pm. I'm so glad!! William slept the best he's ever slept so far........ I woke up at 2:45am, and he (nor I) hadn't woken yet!! I had slept for nearly 6 hours without interuption...... the longest stretch of sleep I've had in a LONG LONG time. I was so excited, I actually woke Stu up to tell him! "Shhhh....." he said, "You're going to wake him up!" I was being pretty vocal about it. Very excited. :) Anyway, William woke about 15 minutes later to feed. He was so hungry and ended up over-indulging a bit, and hence pretty windy and restess the rest of the night....... but who cares, you take the sleep when you can get it, right? I love my little boy!

More sleepy pictures!!

Saraya

Elijah

It was so much fun looking through the old photos of the children this morning at 4am. :) Amazing what you can do with one hand while feeding and burping a baby with the other!

My Sleeping Babies......... and other sleepy matters......

Debi at http://bouffard11.blogspot.com/ has invited us to post our favourite "sleeping baby" pictures. So, here goes.




This is my beautiful Saraya when she was just a couple of months old. She didn't like to sleep in her bed, but always prefered to be cuddled........... I wasn't really a sling-wearer back then, which made things difficult. So, Stu would get home from work of an afternoon and I would pass him Saraya so I could get some work done! Here they are cuddling up together. I think Stuart enjoyed the excuse to have a rest after his work days anyway. :)



And here she is, big girl of 5, having a sleepover with her friend Daisy. Aren't they sweet?

This is my little man Elijah, about 4 or 5 weeks old. Saraya always liked to hold him and have her photo taken while he was sleeping! She is nearly 3 in this photo.

And this is Elijah at 2 years old doing a rare thing - having a nap in the afternoon! He had fallen asleep watching his after-lunch DVD. And cuddling his little baby doll, John. I love this photo.

This is my very favourite photo of William so far. The morning after he was born Stuart was cuddling him wrapped inside his dressing gown...... a very warm and cosy place to be!

Sleeping babies (and children) are just beautiful. So peaceful, and QUIET! Lovely.

I have a question for those Mummy readers out there. I have been blessed that William so far has naturally been a very good night-time sleeper. He generally settles between 6 and 7pm, and will sleep until 11pm or even 12 or 1am if I'm lucky! He feeds when he wakes, then feeds again at 4 and maybe again at 5:30 or 6am. Each feeding/burping is about an hour-long process. This is much better than my other two children, who would wake on the hour or two hour mark right through the night until they weaned at nearly 2!!
I feel the mistake I made with my other two is that I always fed them to sleep on the breast. I know this works for many people, but in all honesty it never really did for us. It just meant that they would wake, find they were not on the breast, and look for it, day in, day out.

William so far sometimes falls asleep on the breast (night feeds for instance), but otherwise is happy to fall asleep in the sling or just being held or patted on my shoulder. However, I would like to get to the point as he gets older where I am able to give him a feed and burp, cuddle etc. and then tuck him in his bed. I'm not willing to have him scream and cry himself to sleep - I would just love him to be able to self-settle I guess. Especially for a daytime nap when he's bigger. My others immediately stopped having a day sleep when they weaned...... I wasn't ready for them give up their nap, and neither were they really! They just didn't know it. :( I know friends who can pop their baby into bed at naptime and they go off to sleep. Am I kidding myself? How does one get to that point? At what stage do you start to put your baby into bed awake and have them go off to sleep? I would love any ideas or advice on this topic! I know how to settle my babies but am keen to learn how William can learn to settle himself to sleep if possible......

Thanks!!!