So we're having good luck so far with the Super Nanny technique for putting the kids down to bed. The last 5 nights, Charlie has been in bed and sleeping peacefully by 8:00pm, and Will has generally been down shirtly thereafter (by 10:00pm) and sleeping through big chunks of the night. Anywhere from 3 to 5 hours at night.
Like I mentioned before here, Charlie's little personality has been PERFECT with her baby brother. She really protects him and watches out for him. It's amazing and quite frankly, I don't understand how she "gets it", but I'm certain I underestimate a toddler's ever evolving brain. She surprises me everyday by doing something she sees us do, that we never thought she understood or was paying attention to.
Example: The other day, I mentioned to Beck that everytime Charlie "uses" the baby potty before a bath, she'll get up, close the lid, and walk over to the side and put her foot up on the green button on the side. Beck informed me that when she takes her into a public restroom, she always flushes the toilet with her foot, so she doesn't have to touch anything. I suppose we'll have to let Charlie see us clean HER bathroom so she's not afraid to touch things with her hands!! It is real funny to see.
I will say that (in my opinion) Beck and I are adjusting slowly to having two kids in the house. We are very fortunate to be able to help each other so much, but there is going to be a day soon that we're going to have to suck it up and get comfortable taking care of both of them by ourselves. It's a pretty scary thought to me, but then again, I was fearful for my first "Daddy/Daughter Days" with Charlie. You just don't have any choice but to figure it out.
The bedtime routines was (and is) a big deal though. It's the basis for keeping a structured schedule for the kids and absolutely keeps them rested and gives us a chance to unwind at the end of the day. We're hoping that Will continues his excellent sleeping right into a standard bedtime and sleeping ALL the way through the night soon.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
The Bedtime Routine
So you've read here that my daughter Charlie has had some difficulty with her normal bedtime routine since welcoming her baby brother home from the hospital. Well, I had a theory, and it seems that Super Nanny concurs.
About 4 nights into sharing her home with a new baby, Charlie began refusing to go down quietly after her bedtime routine. No less than 5 minutes after we would put her down, she would begin screaming at the top of her lungs, hysterical. Completely not like her at all. She has been an incredible sleeper since she was 1-month old.
We spent 4 or 5 days laying with her in her bed to get her calmed down, thinking she was sick, spooked, hot, whatever. Finally, we decided that laying in bed with her to get her to go to sleep was a terrible habit to start, so we started thinking about WHY she was doing this.
My theory almost immediately was that she was trying to stay awake because she felt she was missing out on something. You see, her little brother was always AWAKE when we put Charlie down for bed, and even though she is only 20-months old, I just felt like somehow, she knew exactly what was going on.
So we did some research and found in Super Nanny's book, the EXACT scenario we were experiencing. She suggested that we allow Charlie to participate in WILL'S bedtime ritual, and help us put him down to bed BEFORE we do her routine. All well and good, but Will is only 16 days old, so we're just building his routines and often, he's not ready for bed by Charlie's bedtime.
What we decided to do is just before we begin Charlie's routine, we make a big deal out of Will going to bed. We let Charlie say goodnight to him, and kiss him, and then either Beck or I will take Will from the room (out of Charlie's sight) and close Will's bedroom door before taking Will downstairs to the basement... out of view and earshot.
The other one of us continues Charlie's normal routine and puts her down. This HAS WORKED the past two nights like a charm, so once again we're knocking on wood here.
That Super Nanny sure is pretty sharp!
About 4 nights into sharing her home with a new baby, Charlie began refusing to go down quietly after her bedtime routine. No less than 5 minutes after we would put her down, she would begin screaming at the top of her lungs, hysterical. Completely not like her at all. She has been an incredible sleeper since she was 1-month old.
We spent 4 or 5 days laying with her in her bed to get her calmed down, thinking she was sick, spooked, hot, whatever. Finally, we decided that laying in bed with her to get her to go to sleep was a terrible habit to start, so we started thinking about WHY she was doing this.
My theory almost immediately was that she was trying to stay awake because she felt she was missing out on something. You see, her little brother was always AWAKE when we put Charlie down for bed, and even though she is only 20-months old, I just felt like somehow, she knew exactly what was going on.
So we did some research and found in Super Nanny's book, the EXACT scenario we were experiencing. She suggested that we allow Charlie to participate in WILL'S bedtime ritual, and help us put him down to bed BEFORE we do her routine. All well and good, but Will is only 16 days old, so we're just building his routines and often, he's not ready for bed by Charlie's bedtime.
What we decided to do is just before we begin Charlie's routine, we make a big deal out of Will going to bed. We let Charlie say goodnight to him, and kiss him, and then either Beck or I will take Will from the room (out of Charlie's sight) and close Will's bedroom door before taking Will downstairs to the basement... out of view and earshot.
The other one of us continues Charlie's normal routine and puts her down. This HAS WORKED the past two nights like a charm, so once again we're knocking on wood here.
That Super Nanny sure is pretty sharp!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Weekend Visits
I've now decided that weekend visits with far away Grandparents should officially be 4 days long instead of 2 days. Grandma and Grandpa "D" came into town on Saturday morning to meet their newest grandson Will and spent two great days with us. Charlie was not herself Saturday, possibly from a teething fever, and finally started coming around late Sunday morning. Mommy and Daddy were a little disappointed because Charlie is becoming so much fun, and we wanted Grandma and Grandpa D to see that side of her. They got a little of it.
These visits are difficult with kids Charlie's age, because she's so attached to Mommy and Daddy right now that it takes a little while for her to warm up to people she's not entirely familiar with. It seemed just as Charlie was coming around, the visit was over! :-(
I've blogged before about having my parents and brothers so spread out across the country. It never affected me quite so much years go. Just a few short years ago, everyone lived within 5-7 hours of one another and a quick drive was all it took to spend some time together. Now my own family is starting and finding the time (and the guts) to make cross-country flights or 10+ hour drives with two children under 2 is pretty a daunting thought.
I'm really thankful that I've seen my parents pretty much every 3-4 months over the past 2 years. I really am happy my kids get to spend time as much time with them as they do. There's something about seeing the glow in their face when they look at MY children. Its very satisfying for me for some reason. I really appreciate the effort they make to stay connected with us and their two newest grand babies.
I do wish that my brothers were nearer. I remember seeing my nieces Kate and Emma pretty regularly when they were young. I pull out the pictures all the time, and can't believe how quickly they've grown. My favorite right now is a picture of me (at 22) holding my niece Kate when she was right about Charlie's age now. I think Charlie bears a resemblance to lots of her cousins, but that picture really looks like her... and Kate's expression could easily be one of Charlie's. My Mom thinks Charlie resembles her cousin Maddie a lot too. I see a little bit everywhere I look, even a certain expression I see in cousin Hope's pictures. I have a picture of Charlie when she was around a year old that looks like her cousin Micah too. Lots of people say Charlie looks like Rebecca... and I think so. But I really do see a lot of me in her. Especially after my Mom brought a book of old pictures up with her this weekend.
Maybe I see the resemblance to my brothers kids so often because I miss my brothers and their families. I just miss being able to drive up the road 15 minutes to hang out and play Techmo Bowl with my brother Jim, or sing Karaoke with my brother Ray. I often think about how great it would be to just have a couple of family gatherings a year... I'd settle for just one really. Maybe even every other year. I'm not that picky anymore.
For a guy who never was that affected by his family moving all over the country, I sure can reminisce with the best of them, huh?
These visits are difficult with kids Charlie's age, because she's so attached to Mommy and Daddy right now that it takes a little while for her to warm up to people she's not entirely familiar with. It seemed just as Charlie was coming around, the visit was over! :-(
I've blogged before about having my parents and brothers so spread out across the country. It never affected me quite so much years go. Just a few short years ago, everyone lived within 5-7 hours of one another and a quick drive was all it took to spend some time together. Now my own family is starting and finding the time (and the guts) to make cross-country flights or 10+ hour drives with two children under 2 is pretty a daunting thought.
I'm really thankful that I've seen my parents pretty much every 3-4 months over the past 2 years. I really am happy my kids get to spend time as much time with them as they do. There's something about seeing the glow in their face when they look at MY children. Its very satisfying for me for some reason. I really appreciate the effort they make to stay connected with us and their two newest grand babies.
I do wish that my brothers were nearer. I remember seeing my nieces Kate and Emma pretty regularly when they were young. I pull out the pictures all the time, and can't believe how quickly they've grown. My favorite right now is a picture of me (at 22) holding my niece Kate when she was right about Charlie's age now. I think Charlie bears a resemblance to lots of her cousins, but that picture really looks like her... and Kate's expression could easily be one of Charlie's. My Mom thinks Charlie resembles her cousin Maddie a lot too. I see a little bit everywhere I look, even a certain expression I see in cousin Hope's pictures. I have a picture of Charlie when she was around a year old that looks like her cousin Micah too. Lots of people say Charlie looks like Rebecca... and I think so. But I really do see a lot of me in her. Especially after my Mom brought a book of old pictures up with her this weekend.
Maybe I see the resemblance to my brothers kids so often because I miss my brothers and their families. I just miss being able to drive up the road 15 minutes to hang out and play Techmo Bowl with my brother Jim, or sing Karaoke with my brother Ray. I often think about how great it would be to just have a couple of family gatherings a year... I'd settle for just one really. Maybe even every other year. I'm not that picky anymore.
For a guy who never was that affected by his family moving all over the country, I sure can reminisce with the best of them, huh?
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