We had a great time sledding today. The kids are getting to the point where the work is starting to equal the fun, which is nice.I can't believe that is is mid January and we are just getting into a real rhythm again. I will say that while I love snow, and general coziness, my body is already longing for more light, longer days, and less clothing. The amount of laundry that 5 people generate in the wintertime is simply insane!
We are in the throes of birthday madness ~ Rich, Bec, Pete, Nate, Carolyn.....and then hot on their heels come Luke, Jules and Mom Mom. I'm trying to decide what to do for the kids birthdays this year ~ I admit to being a bit of a scrooge when it comes to parties. We do a big family party for each of the kids first birthdays.......but the bigs have not had a kid party as of yet. I don't really know why, other than to say that I don't like setting levels of expectations that could only grow exponentially year after year. This year I'm considering holding their first kid party at ACAC ~ just one party for both kids in early March. Luke is going to start tennis lessons in Feb (he has to be 4) and Jules dance classes (she has to be 3).........and I admit to being giddy about seeing my little girl in a leotard and tutu! So funny, as I pretty much am a boy, but there is something so irresistible about little girls in leotards.
I just filled out their pre-school registrations for next year - this year they both go two mornings a week for two and a half hours......next year I signed the bigs up for three mornings a week. I got a bit emotional when I realized that this is the last year that I will be signing Luke up........next year I will be registering my little man for KINDERGARTEN, which completely freaks me out.
We have lovely cases of the snots raging in our house, not sick, just completely snotty and relatively gross. It follows the usual pattern, I'm trying to get my fitness back on track, which means that we were at the gym all week...which means the snots! It is really hard to be a Mom of three little ones and stay fit at the same time. Jake has his second tooth now.....and I can tell you, Jake is a miserable teether. I don't know if there is anything to the idea that when kids get their teeth older it is easier for them, and maybe I just don't remember.......but Luke and Jules didn't have such a hard time busting in the chompers. Either Jake is a total wimp or it is just harder for 6/7 month old babies than it was for 9/10 month old babies. Maybe I have just blocked it out and it was horrific with the bigs.....but poor Jake is really suffering with the teeth. This morning he was just inconsolable ~ he actually is like a caricature of a teething person ~ soaked with drool, red chapped cheeks and chin.....and he has an entire red, chapped, raw HAND from gnawing on it so much. He didn't even want to nurse! At one point this morning he just cried, and cried, and then cried some more. I can tell you this ~ I am fall on my face grateful that I did not have a baby with colic. Just one morning of him being inconsolable and I quickly realized that I simply am not cut out to be the mother of a colicky baby. Wow. It is tough! And this was just one day! I cannot imagine what my parents went through with me screaming for the first 4 months of my life. I admire their courage in going on to have more children. Luckily his sleeping is not suffering ~ but man, the days are long with a 25 lb 7 month old who needs to be held or worn all day!
Nate is off on a guys night celebrating Rich's birthday, the kids are all in bed, I am on vicoden as a result of my very first (and hopefully last) root canal, and I am off to fold three billion pounds of laundry and snuggle up with my new boyfriend (my kindle). We have a great weekend of family and football ahead of us as we prepare for Nate to head to Puerto Rico for the week. I am fervently hoping that the snots resolve themselves this weekend so that we can be out and about next week......while a week without Nate is entirely manageable, a week housebound without him sounds like a form of torture.
One question for anyone who reads this who has potty trained older kids ~ Jules has been potty trained for a year now. Luke for a year and a half. Jules went diaper less at night within about 2 months of potty training.....Luke is still wearing a diaper, just at night. He never has accidents anymore during his almost 3 hour nap, but almost always wakes up with a wet diaper in the morning. Should I just continue to roll with it and put him in a diaper? Should I try to wake him when we go to bed to have him pee? Any suggestions? He is almost 4 and I would love to be diaper free at nights ~ but I admit to love not having to change the sheets in the wee hours of the morning because of an accident even more. Any ideas?
Hey Melissa! I don't comment often, but I do follow your blog. While I don't have any suggestions regarding diaper-wearing at night, i can say that we are in the same situation. Carter was potty-trained about a year ago and we have the same issue with a wet pull-up in the morning. We were told by our pediatrician to just continue with the pull-ups at night. They will eventually outgrow it. Some little boys have a physiological condition related to the absence of a specific hormone and therefore have no control over nighttime urination. I wish we could go pull-up free at night as well as our little girl never wore a diaper again after she potty trained. Good luck, and I'm right there with ya! Your kids are adorable, btw!
ReplyDeleteIn an effort to avoid the whole wet-sheets scenario...I'd stick with the pull ups until he consistently wakes up dry. Have you started limiting his fluids maybe an hour or two before bedtime? Then make him go pee just before you put him down? I don't know what your bedtime "rules" are, but we had to recently convince Lucas that it was ok to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I think he thought he'd get in trouble or something. He gets a kick out of doing that now, he relishes the new-found independence. :)
ReplyDeleteNo personal experience, but depending on the kid, taking them to the bathroom before you head to bed can work. My friend did that with her two oldest, as they were the sort that could sleepily do their business at 10pm and then doze back off. However, I know my son would be awake for 7 hrs, so I will probably be rolling with the nighttime diapers for a good chunk of time (though he's dry at nap).
ReplyDeleteWishing you to be snot-free and have a great week.
I had great success with taking Norah to the bathroom right before bed, and even in some cases taking her in the middle of the night. Yeah, I know it's total sacrilege to wake up a sleeping preschooler at 1 or 2 am, but hey - I have rarely had to clean pee sheets. We just went full force with the big girl panties and hoped for the best.
ReplyDeleteOur pediatrician told us that there is a trigger in the brain that needs to be tripped before kids can stay dry at night. For some kids it is at 18 months, for others it is 8. I just wouldn't worry about it.
ReplyDeleteSam was an AWFUL teether. Your description of Jake sounds a lot like Sam, but Sam also had night wakings. Thankfully, while it was painful, it was over fast - he got one tooth right after another and had all his baby teeth (including 2 yr molars) at 18 months.
Thanks guys. He currently has unlimited water at dinner (6 pm) , and then has nothing until his sip of water when brushing his teeth right at 8, which is bedtime. He goes pee right before bed. He does not wake up soaking wet or anything, it feels like he goes once, maybe twice at night. I may try the wake him up thing around 10 or 11 when we go to bed, but leave a diaper on him......to see if that gets him waking up dry....and then could leave the diaper off.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking from the position of a child who wet the bed til near double digits, sometimes it is only an age thing. If you find something that works, that's awesome! I hope you do. It can be embarrassing to know you have a sibling (in my case siblings) that stay dry 100% and you still wear diapers to bed. Luckily my parents were very sensitive. Which you obviously are, to Luke.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and cheering Luke on!
One thing that we did with Dominic is just talk to him about staying dry and waking up in the morning dry. Then when he woke up dry we would tell him he stayed dry all night and he got really excited. In the beginning we also did underwear over the pull up as well so it made him think he had underwear on, strange but it seemed to work. We do have the occassional accident and it does suck to have to change the sheets at 3 am but it doesn't alot. And alot of times I hear at 2am, "Mommy I have to go potty" not sure what triggers him to wake but I am glad he does. Good luck with the night thing. I hope something works for you.
ReplyDeleteI would try waking him up to go to the bathroom when you go to bed. Have you tried going a few nights with no diaper. For G, he just needed to know that he needed to get up and go on his own because he was no longer in a diaper... it switched something in him. I think I started out taking him before I went to bed and that helped. Also, have you tried underwear under the diaper or pullup? G hated getting his real undies wet... Just an idea. Wen
ReplyDeleteMy kiddos keep trying to figure out where that sled came from because they are convinced it is THEM in the pictures!! :)
ReplyDeleteAs far as Luke goes, looks like you've gotten some great advice. My only addition would be to see if you are getting him adjusted? That sure can help too! Good luck! :)
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteWill is 6 1/2 and just started waking up dry consistently (and wearing underwear to bed). We had tried the night waking, the limiting of water, etc., but the doctor said there is nothing we can do until he is physiologically ready (it's a maturity thing...hormones, etc.) We didn't push the issue, just continued with pull-ups and it seems like we're in the clear now. I am FULLY aware I just jinxed myself and he will saturate the bed tonight because of my confidence in him (and my writing about it!!)
Good luck!!