Not a sleeping beauty

Kate is not our sleeping beauty. In fact I would call her a sleeping nightmare when it comes to bedtime lately. We went camping a few weeks ago and since it was SO cold, Kate slept between me and The Dad in our sleeping bag. A few days after we got home her sleeping habits got really bad. She would cry and cry when we put her in her crib and say, "Daddy, Mommy, (where) are you?" Now, I'm not one to instantly pick up a baby when they cry at bedtime but when it disrupts the sleep of the other kids I have to do something. Scott came out and asked what I was going to do about Kate, so I had to get her.

One night I rocked her for an hour and sang to her. When I would stop singing she would say, "again, again" so I would have to continue singing or she would get really upset. Oh, and I had to sing the right song, which I had to figure out, or she would get upset. She was also holding something and every time she would fall asleep and drop it she would wake up. Clearly, this wasn't going to work as a permanent solution.

For several nights after that, The Dad laid in our bed with her until she fell asleep then he would take her to her crib. That worked for a few nights until she woke up in the middle of the night and figured out she wasn't in our bed and cried for 20 minutes.

The next night, The Dad decided to convert her crib to a toddler bed because, "maybe she is feeling too confined, and Scott was sleeping in a bed at 20 months." (Yea, that was out of necessity, John was about to be born and needed the crib.) Bad, bad, bad idea. The Dad tried to get her to go to bed but of course it didn't work so he laid down with her in our bed and then moved her when she fell asleep. The problem was when she woke up at 3:00 and crawled out of bed. She tried to open our door but couldn't so by the time I got up to get her, she was opening the boy's door. That would have been all I needed, 3 kids awake at 3:00 in the morning. Luckily I stopped her and tried to rock her and sing. Didn't work. The Dad took over and put her in our bed. After an hour and a half of her playing in our bed and kicking my back, I left and slept on the couch. 20 minutes later, I heard The Dad putting the crib rail back on the crib and she was back in the crib by 5:20. She cried for 20 minutes then FINALLY fell asleep.

After that night, The Dad decided it was time to lay down the law. Unfortunately, Kate has him wrapped around her finger and she gets away with anything and everything with him, obviously. Don't worry, I've been telling him for quite some time that she needs discipline. Finally, he agrees. To make things worse, I think Kate is hitting the terrible 2 stage. Even though she can communicate really well, she want and thinks she deserves everything!

The first night of "laying down the law" actually wasn't too bad and she only cried for 20 minutes and didn't wake up in the night and tonight she only cried for 5. I think we are on the right track I just wish we could have got on track the first night instead of going through 6 bad nights.

Stinky Poo

Lately, Kate has been saying "stinky poo" a lot! She will walk up to me or The Dad and say it. I check her quite frequently to see if she really has "stinky poo" but she doesn't. I thought maybe she was telling me she had to go but she never goes right after she says it. I really didn't know why she would say that all the time until today. One of her closet doors was open and she went inside and hid behind the closed door. I figured she was playing hide and seek so I played along. When I found her she said "stinky poo." Yea, don't worry, she is really saying "peek-a-boo!"

I need my sleep

I have been very grateful when it comes to John's sleeping habits. Some autistic kids are horrible sleepers, sleeping 5 or 6 hours a night and sometimes waking in the night and playing. John hasn't ever had a problem. Usually if it's past 9:00 he will tell us he wants to go to bed and he sleeps until 7:30 or 8:00. His sleep schedule has been messed up lately with our camping trip last weekend and our summer schedule. Last night was not a good night. He woke up at 3:30 and crawled in bed with us. He tossed and turned for about 10 minutes and I told him to go back to his bed. After 15 minutes he opened our door and let the dog in. I got up to see what he was doing and he had several lights turned on and was playing on the computer. I turned off the computer and gave him a choice of where he could sleep. He chose the couch. I should have known he wasn't going to go to sleep. 30 minutes later I heard the Dora the Explorer music. He was watching tv. The Dad got up and put him back in bed and luckily he stayed but we had been awake for an hour with him. I love my sleep and I certainly hope this isn't the beginning of something really bad!

Who's the dad and who's the mom

Some days I wonder. I have to admit Scott is a big help when it comes to getting John to do what I want him to do. The other day we were eating lunch and John wanted to play on the computer. I told him no but I really didn't have the energy to enforce it. Scott jumped right in and told John he could not play the computer and he needed to eat his lunch. After about 15 minutes of sitting in front of the blank computer screen John came over to the table and ate his lunch. I really appreciated Scott enforcing what I had said.

Later that evening John was playing on the computer, again, and it was time for dinner. I told John to come to the table but he wouldn't. Kate jumped in and said something like this,"Jabber, jabber, jabber, John, jabber, jabber, jabber, dinner, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber." She really wanted to let him know it was time for dinner.

I am the mom and The Dad is the dad but sometimes the kids take over when it comes to parenting John. Well, at least it doesn't bother John!

I've been MIA

And I think I have a pretty good excuse. For the last four weeks I have been feeling a bit sick, like I was going to throw up actually. So, yes, that means what you think it means but it's not good news. I was pregnant. Yes, was.

I wasn't as sick as usual and I didn't have some of the other classic symptoms. I went in for my first doctor visit yesterday and it obviously didn't go well. He tried to do an ultrasound on the little machine he has in his office but since my uterus is so tilted he said couldn't get a good view. He didn't even want to do an internal exam so I think he got a good enough view and knew what was going on.

He sent me to get an ultrasound on the big high-tech machine. When I was looking at the screen I saw the little blob but there was no movement. I ask the technician if there was a heartbeat and she said no. The baby only measured 7 weeks, 1 day and I was 8 weeks, 5 days. So, I am sad.

Unfortunately, miscarriage is very common, 1 in 6 pregnancies. My problem is now I have to wait to miscarry. I still feel sick everyday so I just want it to happen quickly so my hormones can get back to normal. I can get a d and c but my doctor only does those on Tuesdays so I have to wait and feel sick and sad. My doctor said that most miscarriages happen because the baby has major genetic issues. With my age and my risk factor for autism I think I may be done. But don't quote me on that!

I will probably be MIA for a little bit longer but I will be back, maybe next month.

The saga continues . . .

The potty training saga that is. I decided not to push John anymore on the potty training thing. His school ended on Wednesday and I have been putting pull-ups on him ever since. I do ask him first thing in the morning if he needs to go and if he is dancing I take him to the bathroom but I'm not on him every 2 hours like I was before. He hasn't had a single pee accident since Wednesday. Carrots, I tell you, carrots. I have been pushing him when it comes to pooing though. He plays peek-a-poop and it drives me crazy! He will hold it put will get poo stains in his pull-up because he REALLY has to go. He actually pooed in the toilet with a lot of persuasion on Thursday and on Saturday he shocked me! I was in my bedroom and heard the toilet flush. John came in without his pull-up or shorts on. I asked him if he went pee and he said no he went poo. I was amazed! He is not one to lie. He had flushed the evidence but I wiped his bum and there was evidence there. He did poo in his pull-up yesterday but hey, we're making progress. I'm still not pushing him and maybe that's the key. It was too much to have to go at school and then have the pressure to go at home too. We'll see what happens.