Mommin' It Up!

August 25, 2008

A slightly traumatic morning

For me, anyway. The kids were fine.

Andy’s back to school this morning, so this was the first time I dropped the kids off at the sitter’s.

Fortunately, we all got a great night of sleep last night. Oh wait a minute, we were up the whole freaking night! Ugh. Sam is still waking up every hour or so, and last night he decided that he’d stop being so easy to get back to sleep, too, and would pop his eyes open every time we had the audacity to lay him down. (Someone help me, please!)

Then the morning got off to an awesome start – we overslept. For an hour. Yeah. Then we had to wake up both the kids, as they were still snoozing when it was time to run out the door. Oh, the irony.

On the way to the sitter’s, I said, “Kate, I’m going to miss you today.” She responded, “I’m going to miss you more, Mommy, but at least I’ll have my Sammers!” Warmed my heart.

Everything went fine when we got there – I drug in 1,000 pounds of baby crap (I had forgotten how much fun that was – now I just drop Kate off with the clothes on her back, but unfortunately Sammy requires a little more stuff), gave the sitter the run-down of Sammy-care, and watched Sam smile as I walked out the door. Thank God he has not yet hit the separation anxiety stage. I don’t think I could have handled it. It was much more difficult for me than it was for either of the kids.

We love the kids’ sitter. This is Kate’s fourth school year there, and I know Sam will thrive there the same way Kate has. Intellectually, I know he will be fine. More than fine. Emotionally, though, I am sad.

August 8, 2008

Separation Anxiety

We’re dealing with some separation anxiety at our house. Well, maybe “we’re” not, but I sure am! Last night was a big milestone in Sammy’s life… he slept in his own room for the first time! And I was sad!

He had been sleeping in his swing in our room. Wrapped in his Miracle Blanket (thanks Sophie!), he had been sleeping for 10-12 hours straight. It was awesome. But the last week or so, he’s been waking up every hour or two, nursing for 10 minutes or so, and then going back to sleep. I theorized that he wasn’t comfortable in his swing, and that’s why he was waking up. So, we moved him to his crib.

It was so strange last night after the kids had gone to bed… I could watch tv, get my stuff ready for the morning, and talk to Andy without worrying I was going to wake up Sam. I was sad that Sammy wasn’t in our room with us (he is growing up! wah!) but at the same time felt slightly liberated, too.

However, this grand scheme didn’t result in a full night’s sleep for any of us. He still woke up every two hours or so. Only then I had to trudge down the hall (ok it’s like 10 feet, but still) to get him. So that was unfortunate.

I’m not sure what to do to help him sleep better. Did I mention I’m still nursing him to sleep? Yeah, so that might be part of the problem. But I am nervous about stopping that, too! It works so well. Until he wakes up. I am generally a big fan of Dr. Ferber, but he’s still a little young for that, so I’m not sure where to go from here. I could do nothing, I guess, but waking up every couple hours is draining.

What would you do (or did you do) in this situation? While I’m waiting for your words of wisdom, I’m just going to go have another cup of coffee…

July 29, 2008

Give your brother some space!

That has been the constant refrain coming from me and Andy since… let me think… the second Sam was born! Seriously, from that moment on, Kate has been thisclose to him pretty much constantly.

I love the girl, but this habit drives me absolutely bonkers! I don’t know why she insists on being in his face all the time, but I haven’t found a way to stop it. I have tried asking nicely, I have tried time outs, and I have even tried showing her how much better she can see me when I’m a few inches from her face instead of smooshed up against it. She just thought that it was awesome that it looked like I only had one eye and ran over to try it out on Sam.

Sometimes I fear for his safety. I was pretty sure she was going to do something awful to his soft spot, but fortunately we’ve been able to avoid any brain damage. Knock on wood. It’s only been four months, there’s plenty of time for that.

The craziest part is that, most of the time, he doesn’t seem to mind being poked, prodded and scrunched. He just sits there and takes it. I have a feeling that is going to be a theme in their relationship for many years to come. He is a pretty easy-going kid, but every once in a while, he looks like this:

Can’t you just see him thinking “Get her OFF OF MEEEEEEE!!!”?

And he is NEVER of more interest to her than when he is asleep. No, that is the best time to hug, kiss, pull and push him. We’ll say “Kate, what is the rule?” and she’ll grumble back “No touching Sammy while he’s asleep” but it’s like she just can’t help it. He has an irresistable pull.

I can understand it, really. Who could resist this?

And I know… soon enough, she will be locking her bedroom door and doing anything she can to keep him away. I just hope we can avoid any major bodily harm until that day.