Friday, January 30, 2009

Sleep update

Bedtime went pretty well tonight. He was worn out from a late, abbreviated nap and from playing at friend James's house. (Thank you again, so much, Miss K!!)

We listened to "My Brother," a story song on Diane Ferrlate's "Knick Knack Paddy Whack 2" while he was in the tub. He loves that CD!!! And he listens to it so quietly whenever we play it!

We read two books and then sang "Bob the Builder" twice. It would have been perfect, but he had a milk sippy cup, and we don't let him keep that in bed, so I had to wrest it away from him, causing a meltdown. He pushed out the rail, checked the door, then headed back to bed. The rail was pulling the Thomas bed down, so he called for me to fix it (which I didn't), but he figured out how to get back in bed anyway.

About 9pm, I went in to replace the rail so he didn't fall out again. Evidently he was still awake or in a lucid state of the sleep cycle, because he popped up and said "Stay here." I fixed the rail, told him I couldn't, and let Keats go in the room. (He was camped outside.) He calmed down pretty quick and went back to sleep.

So overall, we're doing very well. So far. As yet. Knock wood.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Beddy-bye

We have crossed the Rubicon.
On Monday, John connected the skill of pushing out his bed rail and his desire to not to be left alone in bed. That night I sat in his room until he fell asleep. At 2am that morning he pushed out his bed rail, gathered his Bee, and headed for the door. I went in, and after some negotiations on both sides, decided to let him sleep on the futon. I stayed on the floor next to the futon until he went to sleep.

I have been worrying about this moment for as long as he has been in "his big-boy crib." And I have read and read online about what to do. Most everybody concurs that the first step is explaining to the child that he needs to stay in bed. Fine, no problem. Then at bedtime, each time the child gets out of bed, you pick him up, return him to his bed, and do not make a fuss, either saying nothing or "It's time to stay in bed." All the while remaining positive yet detached.

I'm sure that would work if you had a child that will stay in the bed long enough for you to walk away after you have put him there. John is not that child.

So our second recourse, discussed in advance, is to aim for keeping him in his room. My stance: you can't force him to stay in bed (unless you hold him down, which I am not willing to do) but you can force him to stay in his room. I thought that Tony and I were in agreement with this strategy and that the plan was worked out.

Well, we discovered on Tuesday night that the parenting team had semantic differences, expectation differences, and locked-door tolerance differences.
That is, Tony and I got into a yelling fight while trying to put John to bed on Tuesday. We came to a ceasefire after John was finally asleep, which took 10 minutes of holding the door shut, Tony holding John in the bed and then sitting with him for another 10 minutes, and a recitation of "The Gruffalo" thrown in.

Last night (Wednesday) the plan was to go back to our normal bedtime routine, which Tony insisted had been working fine. I agreed, but was skeptical, now that the breach had been made. In a generous move, Tony granted me leave to attend a movie at bedtime ("Inkheart"). When I returned, John was asleep. Bedtime was not good, and Tony ended up holding John's door closed for 20 minutes. John spent time knocking on the door, trying to open the knob, and putting his face down by the crack at the bottom and calling for "Daddy." He finally went back to his bed and fell asleep. I counted the whole thing as the first step in the right direction, because John figured out to go back to his bed after only 20 minutes. It was very hard on Tony, though.

I am feeling a mixture of uneasiness and guarded optimism about tonight (Thursday). Tony is scheduled to leave "after bedtime" to go to Hilton Head, leaving John and me to work this out on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Tony is worried that I will call him up at 2 in the morning freaking out with John still awake. However, I feel that Tony laid the groundwork last night, and as long as we are agreed that keeping him (I hate to say "locking" but that's what it is) in his room is the right way to go, I am pretty OK at hardening my heart enough to get through...

I am going to pick up childproof doorknob covers today, so that hopefully I don't have to hold the door shut like Tony did last night.

I would like reassurances that we are not being cruel by locking him in his room. He has a nightlight, all his usual accouterments (Bee, giraffe, owl, Thomas, and bear), and water. Since he's still in diapers, we're not withholding toilet privileges.

_____________________________________________
Later that same night (Thursday).
We had the usual protests when Tony and I left John's room tonight after the normal bedtime routine. He came over to the door and tried to open it for a minute or two. He was unable to defeat the childproof door knob cover. He requested an unnecessary diaper change (which I feel for during the 2am incident) and offered a couple "Daddy, can you help me's." He gave up pretty quick (about 3 minutes) and got back in bed. Wanted his water, couldn't find it, and cried a little for it, then covered himself up and went to sleep. YAY!

I didn't get back in there soon enough and he did fall out of bed around 9pm. He was crying a little bit, but was mostly still asleep. I put him back in the bed and covered him and he was sound asleep again before I could come back to give him some Motrin.
I'm off to bed myself now, and hopefully it will be quiet for the rest of the night!
Of course, we'll see...

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Deer 1, Keats 0

The extra cold weather seems to be driving the local deer a little closer to the houses in our neighborhood. Yesterday morning I saw one while John and I were eating breakfast. I tried to show it to John, but I could never figure out how to describe where it was so that he could find it 20 yards away in a thicket that is mostly the same color as the deer!

Just now, while Keats was sunning on the deck, he saw two deer and barked furiously at them. They bounded about 20 yards away from the deck and turned and looked at Keats for about 30 seconds and figured out that he couldn't chase them. Then they leisurely made their way away...
I was glad to see that, since it means they will probably back again!
I'm sure it was a blow to Keats' doggy ego, though!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Some pics

Don't have much to say, just wanted to get some pictures up!

These two pictures were taken at the Tuscaloosa Hands On Children's Museum.



This is a picture of John waiting for our Christmas party to start. (Notice the clean room and extra chairs behind him!)

Monday, January 12, 2009

More updates



John is doing great and having lots of fun. He is able and very proud to be able to put on his own pants and shirts now. He got one of his socks on by himself yesterday.

He is very interested in music now, and often bangs things and says "Mommy, I'm making music!"

His favorite movie is "Finding Nemo," and we still sometimes throw Thomas in.

He definitely tests us in deliberate ways to see how far he can go. His other challenge is that he instantly gets upset when we do something that he wants to do himself... including change his own diaper! (Sigh) It's a minefield for me and Tony, but we just remind him to ask nicely. I remind myself that someday we'll be able to go from seeing something he wants to do and asking nicely without the instant tantrum in the middle!

He spent some time in the puddle near our house on Saturday, and I finally figured out that I should buy him some boots, which I did. I'll let you know how that goes the next time we go puddle-jumping.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Quick one (updated with new picture links!)

We're home again! We got home last night at about 730pm.
The car is unpacked and vacuumed (Thanks Tony).
The laundry has been sorted and started, and now we just have to sort all the other travel miscellanea into its home.
I'm feeling my traditional/annual post-Holiday letdown. Tony and John are trying to help me out of it. I was telling John I was sad because I was missing everyone. He then said "Be happy. I'm here" and gave me a hug. I'm thankful for such a sweet kid. He is having fun running around playing with his new and old toys.
Tony is hooking up the Roku (the netflix direct-to-TV player). I'm sort of puttering from one thing to another.

I hope to get some Christmas pictures posted soon, but we didn't take many, so I have to wait for pics from Pa, Aunt Jessica, and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Jenny.
Here are links to Aunt/Sis Jenny's page which have some pictures:
Post with a pic of my whole family!
Post with pics of the two cousins, John and Naomi, so cute!

We did a LOT this year:
Lots of Wii Rock band and Wii Fit, especially bowling and yoga. Sister Jessica held an octathalon of Wii.
Flying kites with Pa and Uncle Mark.
Flying Pa's little remote-control plane
Eating at my favorite Mexican food restaurants: El Fenix; El Chico; Q-doba
The inaugural Horn family 5K
Six flags
Disney's Bolt in Digital 3-D (Tony opted for "Day the Earth Stood Still")
Painting Christmas ornaments
Making a gingerbread Christmas tree
Playing at local parks and playgrounds

See why I miss them?!
It's good to be home though!