This week has been a rough one at the Athearn house. Both of our kids are having bedtime issues which has turned nighttime into nightmares. I thrive off of schedules and routine and, as a result, my kids have learned to as well. Luke does great at bedtime and our routine is always the same: sit on the potty, put on jammies, brush teeth, lay in bed, read, pray, sing, and lights out. No problems ever. Until this week. We are on night four of him refusing to go to bed. He screams and cries and whines and will not stay in bed. We've tried everything it seems. Usually after a good two+ hours of fighting, around 11 or 11:30, his body finally collapses in exhaustion and we can turn in for the night. That is, of course, if Addison is cooperating, which she hasn't been lately either.
Addison was sleeping through the night (by that I mean I'd put her down sometime around 11 and she'd go til 5 or 6, sometimes 7) since before she was a month old. Around three months, she was going down earlier and making it regularly til 6:30 or 7. This past month, she's been hungrier during the day and so I started her on cereal, which has helped somewhat with the daytime issues. This week, however, she has been going to bed later and fighting bedtime routine as well. It doesn't help that the kids share a room and I can't put her down when her brother is in there screaming. She used to eat, I'd change her, then put her in bed awake and she'd fall right asleep. Now she screams when I put her down and I can't let her "cry it out" too long for fear that she will wake up Luke, who has only been sleeping for a half hour usually. And to top it off, she has now decided 4am is a great time to get up to eat. I'm so frustrated I could cry, which is actually what I did this morning at 4 when I was feeding her! I've tried everything--she's on solids now, that doesn't help. I've tried letting her nurse for up to an hour at her last feeding. I've tried nursing her then giving her formula as well to try and hold her over. NOTHING WORKS!!!!
Well, that's all my ranting for now I guess. I just hope this is a phase that will quickly pass. It's just hard that both kids are going through difficult phases at the same time, making us dread bedtime when that used to be a happy time when we could put the kids down and actually get some time together alone. Any suggestions for what we can do differently would be appreciated...
Trying to dress ourselves...
Checking out our surroundings...
Watching the first snow fall (and boy was it a biggie!)...
Relaxing with our dog...
Taking all our naps on the floor...
Meeting Super Why (he liked him better at a distance)...
Our pretty little tree with too many ornaments (we need to get a bigger tree!)
"What Santa doesn't bring me...Grandma will"
"Who needs Santa when there's Grandma?"
"All mommy wants for Christmas is a silent night"
Addison turned four months old last Sunday and we just can't believe how fast the time has flown! She is such a sweet little girl and has quite the personality, as you can see from these pictures! On Monday I started her on rice cereal. It's a little early, I know, but she has just been soooo hungry lately! At three months she was on a wonderfully predictable 3 hour feeding routine. This past month, however, she's eating sporadically, sometimes making 3 hours and sometimes barely making it 2. She also decided 4 months was a good time to start rolling over! Out of nowhere it seemed I just found her on her side and then shortly after, she rolled over. She's only done it once, so she's by no means a pro at it yet and she won't do it for the camera, but I will do my best to get some on video!
Luke with his absolute favorite Uncle Jacob!
