Balance

We are all about balance this week.

New activities, new friends, new naptimes-we are making several minor changes and are subsequently trying to see how things go and find a new balance.  No one has taken this more literally than Baby O who is identifying with balance in its purest of forms.

                                                                   

Sweet Slumber

It's no secret that I can't sleep anymore.  In retrospect, aside from a few uncomfortable nights here and there due normal wear and tear, the first six months were quite blissful in the sleep department.  After Baby O adjusted to the time difference, solid foods and by us employing the cry it out method (our agreed bottom line was 20 minutes max of crying), we were sleeping through the night within three weeks.

It started in early December when Baby O's molars started coming in.  For an entire week, I couldn't figure out why this child who had always been such a great little sleeper was waking up.  Then it hit me when I saw those pearly whites peeking through his gum line-poor little guy-who wouldn't be in pain with four big old molars coming in?  The Tylenol I had didn't seem to cut it, and as the graph indicates (p < 0.01), there was a positive relationship between lack of sleep and general discontent in the Family O household.

We never really explored what would happen after the 20 minute limit.  I had always fanatically timed the crying on my bedside alarm clock.  There were a few times where we would anxiously reach towards his door knob at 19 minutes, only to hear immediate silence and snoring.  As soon as the molars made their appearance, the 20 minute boundary was promptly broken to smithereens.  There were nights when Baby O would not go back to sleep.  Rocking and singing would not suffice.  My ears were ringing even in the shower. Daddy O admitted to spending significant time on the Internet searching for a better infant painkiller.  Some days my patience diminished and the frustration with my boys and husband were as large as the circles underneath my eyes.  I have never been one to encourage prolonged use of medication, but administering Ibuprofen did last longer and got us to at least 4 to 5 A.M.  When you experience a week of being up from midnight on, four in the morning seems like a blessing. Being sick only prolonged the sleepless nights for us and it left me wondering if I would ever get some shuteye.

This week was mixed bag of sleeping, but I think we are recovering from our colds, no new teeth in sight and getting back on track.  I liked the advice Daddy O's coworker gave him when asked about teething, sickness and sleepless nights.  His eyes glazed over as he said you just get through it and hope you aren't too mean to each other. 

That just about sums it up for me. Yawn. Here's to hoping you are sleeping through the night...

My Valentine

I had envisioned the results of crafting valentines to look something like a page out of the Martha Stewart Living magazine at right.  Having a five year old as my creative partner, I knew from the get go it would never look like the picture, but I really did think we might cut out a few hearts here and there.  Here's a picture of where we ended up:


When I stopped to actually think about why my son, who is obsessed with superheroes, would want to make a pink and red valentine as opposed to creating a Superman emblem (which was promptly safety pinned to his chest) is beyond me. 



Boys will be boys and I love them.  I know it's early, but happy Valentine's Day-Superheroes and all!

Smelling The Roses Among Other Things...

The process of walking to the park is, well, a process.  I find that if I don't clear my head of any purpose whatsoever (like actually getting to the park),  this brief excursion can easily turn into an exercise in patience. 

Here are some instructional photos on how to walk less than a quarter of a mile in just 45 minutes:

1.  Start off strong and give your parent every indication you would like to ride on your big wheel.

2.  Three houses later, decide you would like to take off your helmet and push instead.

3.  See a carefully placed border of rocks and decide you must walk directly on them.

4.  Touch every decorative object that is within reach of the sidewalk.

5.  Proceed to visit every mud puddle in sight.

5.  Even though we now only have 20 minutes to play at the park, make the most of it!

6.  Start all over from the opposite direction.

To conclude the events of this afternoon-I think I need to take more pleasure in 'the process' rather than concentrating solely on the end result.  My boys are wiser than I give them credit for sometimes. 

Sniffles Abound

I thought I had avoided my usual post-travel malady, but after a week of being home a sore throat and a bad case of the sniffles got the better of me.  The common cold never seems to come at a good time and though aggravating, I have invariably been able to take a couple days off of my regular life and sleep it off . Those days have all but disappeared.  The first symptoms surfaced over seven days ago and I still wake up in the mornings feeling as if I just took a sleeping pill.  The aftermath of Mommy O being sick has been pretty standard: everyone else is sick now too.  Baby O came first-his ailments seemed to manifest themselves typically between the hours of two and three in the morning.  Boy O woke up yesterday with a headache and major crankiness.  To top it all off, I heard Daddy O stifle a sniffle yesterday evening.  Two on the upswing and two more to go I guess. 

Signing off for now to blow my nose and wipe two more...

Superpowers

Boy O is fascinated by superpowers.  In the car one day he was telling me about all of his amazing superpowers.  The amalgamation of water skills, high flying abilities, stretching, creating fire and invisible force fields was truly fantastic.  I did manage to ask him one question, So, what's Mommy's superpower?, to which he responded without pause, Making dinner.  Now that's a superpower that I can live with. 

What's your superpower?



No Worries

We are home and back to the ol' grind once again.  As much as I was looking forward to seeing family, I spent more time than I would like to admit stressing about the travel itself.  Weeks beforehand I would shudder at the thought of multiple plane flights, traveling with two active boys, a two hour time difference, not to mention staying in a hotel for almost a week.  In casual conversations with other parents I would bring it up and ask for tips-any tips or any advice they might have.  I found myself  consumed with thoughts on whether to medicate Baby O with tylenol, benedryl, or dramamine-just to make our (and everyone else's) flight a tad more pleasant.  By the time Christmas came and went and the trip was fast approaching, I was just plain tired of obsessing-so much so, that I stopped thinking about it at all and acquired an almost Zen like approach (extremely rare for me):  Hakuna Matata!  No drugs, no checked bags, no worries.

Somehow we managed to make our flights with the kids, bags, and car seat in tow and arrived slightly exhausted but with plenty of anticipation of meeting aunts, uncles, cousins and seeing grandparents again.  The next few days were filled with family and fun. 

Jumping on the bed, pillow fights and hide and seek with his cousins were some of Boy O's favorite activities.

 

Baby O was full of hugs and kisses for his cousin closest to his size.

 

 

A family of four can actually fit into a mini cooper.  I would never have believed it before, but it was quite comfortable.

Finding an empty gate was a must.  We were able to spread out, stretch our legs and even accomplish some acrobatic feats before our next flight.

Aside from some uncomfortable moments on the last flight home with Baby O (there were times when I was wishing that I had investigated benedryl with more zeal), we made it and are back into our regular routine.  There was so much excitement surrounding our arrival and meeting Boy and Baby O that at times it was overwhelming.  Looking back, I am amazed that there were no questions from Boy O about what was coming next-both boys were great at just going with the flow and there seemed to be no anxiety with the constant revolving door of friends and family.  This trip enabled me to recognize that comfort is not just coming from the 'routine' we have worked so hard to create, but the unit our family has become.  

Here's to hoping your wings are ready for takeoff-Happy New Year!