The Great Sleep Experiment: Part 452

For those of you who have babies the normal way...you know, ONE at a time...

Let me take you on an adventure of epic proportions.

It's called:

PLEASE EVERYONE JUST SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT
co-starring No Waking Up at Un-Holy Hours

In the beginning, I was pretty much spoiled. Lucy could be screaming at the top of her little lungs, and Jill would be deep in SlumberLand completely oblivious to the injustices being done to her sister.

And vice-versa.

For the first few months, we would always and I mean *always*...wake up the second baby whenever the first baby woke up, and I would tandem nurse them during the night. That way, I was only getting woken up three times...you know, instead of six.

That whole "never wake a sleeping baby" thing? Twin mamas smile at that.

Cute.

So, after a while, we realized that Jill was always the first baby...and we realized that Lucy was always pretty annoyed that we were disturbing her. After a few false starts and Lucy basically waking up 20 minutes after her sister, we got to the point where Lu was sleeping through the night.

Awe.some.

And then it happened. That moment I had read about in my twin books:

They wake eachother up.

Ugh.

Before we knew it, Lucy was waking up at the slightest peep from her sister. Worse, as Jill was on her (slow) way to sleeping through the night and as she was (slowly) stretching out the time she woke up...Lucy was now USED to be woken up at 2 every night. So, even though Jill was going until 3 and then 3:30 and then 4...Lucy was up at 2. Because, you know, she was pretty sure she was hungry, right?

And we couldn't let Lu cry it out because...then Jill would get woken up. And I WAS NOT about to mess with that and go backwards with that girl. Her sleeping has been a constant struggle so I didn't want for a *millisecond* to undo any of the progress she had made.

Our solution? Set up a pack and play in the hallway for Jill. Sure, she has a fabulously decorated nursery (if I do say so myself)...but she's relegated to the hallway.

So sad.

Not.

Okay, so now Lu can scream it out and not wake up Jill. Great. Luckily, because she wasn't *really* hungry to begin with, she only cried for a few minutes...for two nights. She's back to drooling on herself until morning again.


Love that girl.

The catch????

4:45 a.m.: Jill wakes up to eat (for the first time all night....cue the angels singing)

As I am getting out of bed...I see Henry's bedroom light flip on.

You. Have. GOT. To. Be. Kidding. Me.

"Mommy!!!! I wake up!!!"

At 4 (insert bad word here) 45.

Jill has now moved on to waking up her BROTHER instead of her sister.

Fan.tas.tic.

Before anyone suggests it...yes, we bought him a little alarm clock. yes, it is set to go off at 7. yes, we've explained to him that he's not allowed to call for us or get out until it goes off.

oh yeah...he's TWO.

And it takes over 2 HOURS to get to 7 when you wake up at 4:45. So that's a really long time for a 2 year old.

And before you ask...no, he didn't ever go back to sleep. He just layed by his door asking to be let out (we took his doorknob off so he's imprisoned until we let him out).

Our next attempt will be to move Jill to our room. I really tried to avoid this because I'm a super light sleeper and every little movement tends to wake me up. If that happens too much she may end up downstairs in the kitchen.

And don't think I'm kidding.

A full night's sleep is coming.

I can taste it.

I can feel it in my bones.

I may die of happiness.

(update: this morning Henry woke up...on his own...at 4:30. When I *finally* let him out at 6:30 he told me "Mommy, my alarm can't go off. It's broken. You have to go to the store to buy a new one." "No honey, it's just that IT'S STILL NOT 7.")

Craigslist Ad

So, this is the ad I'm dying to post on Craigslist.

Feedback is welcome.

"Free to good home. Three children. Two girls, one boy. Must be taken as a group. They are adorably cute. They will make you laugh. Insomniacs preferrable. The girls will wake up 3-4 times a night. EACH. That means that you get to enjoy their adorable cuteness 6-8 times per night. The boy will wake up at 5:20 a.m. so you get a maximum amount of his cuteness too. It is probably best if you are lactose intolerant, because the girls have a dairy sensitivity, so you won't be able to eat any. In addition to that, you will also have to cut out Dr. Pepper and flavored coffee. Little Lu thinks it makes your milk taste like mud and will refuse to eat as a result. But, she will be starving so you'll also get to enjoy her innate ability to scream at a unfathomable volume. Jill loves being held and protests if you *ever* set her down. Often, these two things happen in unison. So, if you are also deaf, that would be great too. Please contact Jeannett for more information."

Basically, I've decided that the best person for my kids is a deaf, lactose intolerant insomniac.

Any takers?

I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids....breathe....

(oh, and in case you were wondering, no it's not the caffeine in the Dr. Pepper or the coffee...it's the flavoring...really...the kid is a freak...)

Jilly & A Scarf Along

Jill's sleeping has gotten better. But certainly not before it got worse.

She continued to wake up every 1.5 hours through the night...for oh, let's say...about TWO WEEKS.

Brutal.

Remember those first days you brought your baby home?

Remember how you were just a walking zombie?

Remember how you were so tired, it HURT?

Yeah, like that.

Add in a second infant and a two year who's ready for the day at 6:30 a.m.

Like I said...brutal.

BUT, I think I figured it out!

Tummy.

If I put her on her tummy to sleep, she can manage to get her Paci back in...or at the very least can get her hands in her mouth.

Apparently she was like a turtle on it's back before.

And apparently she didn't like it.

She's still waking up often, but if I give her a couple of minutes, she figures herself out and passes back out.

HALLELUJAH!!!!



In other news, I'm doing Julie's Scarf Along.

A pretty simple project that I probably don't need the detailed instructions for, but maybe I can pick up a tip here or there.

After all, I learned how to sew by literally buying a machine, opening up the instruction manual and reading.

So to be honest, I think I do a lot of things the hard way.

Which is probably why I pretty much hate sewing.

Anyway, by the time I'm done, I should have 8 scarves.

If you are female and related to me, don't be surprised if one of these finds its way into your Christmas gift.

All of my fabrics are from Amy Butler's newest line: Love.



Be excited.

And I just had to include these pictures because these girls are just so fun I can't stand it.

Lucy is my favorite

I'm not gonna lie.

It's totally true.

You're shocked, huh?

Maybe even gasped aloud at my title.

HOW COULD SHE?

Yeah, well, I'll tell you EXACTLY how:

LuLu goes to bed at 5:30 p.m.

Yes, 5:30.

Sleeps and sleeps and sleeps.

Wakes up at 7:30 a.m.

Yes, 7:30.

That's 14 hours people.

Straight.

And when she does finally wake up...she doesn't cry.

She just lays in her crib making little noises until I come get her.

And when I peer over her crib, she lights up, grins the biggest toothless grin and starts flailing in excitement.

Precious.

***

Jilly.

Oh Jilly.

Last few nights she's been waking up EVERY HOUR ON THE HOUR from about 11:00 p.m. until...well, until I finally roll my tired body out of bed at 6.

All. night. long.

Every. Hour.

She wants to use me as a giant human pacifier.

Last night I broke down and let her cry it out for a while.

A long while.

I wanted to tear my hair out listening to her cry.

Awful.

And it didn't work.

I finally had to go in and rescue her.

And you know what?

An hour later...

...she woke up screaming again.

I have no idea what her deal is.

But I'm tired.

Grumpy.

It's a good thing God makes babies cute.

It's a good thing that Jilly has the most darling smile.

She flashes it when I pick her up.

Even at 3 a.m.

So, I can't stay too mad.

But for now at least, Lucy's my favorite.

Today anyway.

I'm pretty petty.

It'll change often.

My game of favorites is easily won.

Sleep is a good start.

(Henry has yet to get the memo about daylight savings time...he still thinks 5:30 is a perfectly acceptable time to get up...so he's not in the running for favorite either...)

Persnickity

Recently, I saw this little set of three whitewashed pots at an estate sale and thought they would look great in my kitchen window.

I stood in the sunny line and as I waited, two different women asked me if I wanted to borrow their jacket to act as shade for the little African Violets. I said no, it was fine. And each time, the women kind of tsk-tsk'd as they walked away.

I didn't get it.

When I got to the front, the woman taking my $12 asked me if I knew how to care for African Violets...no...water and sun, right?...she pretty much rolled her eyes at me and sighed. In fact, she almost seemed to not want to sell them to me and went on and on about how beautiful and well cared for they were...

Intrigued, I went home to trusty Mr. Google.

Turns out, African Violets are a persnickity little plant.

They need sunlight...but only indirect...they have to be watered daily...but the water has to be room temperature...too cold and they will die...too warm and they will die...the water has to be treated with special African Violet food...and you can't get any water on the leaves or the flowers, or they will wither up and fall off.

Holy moly.

I seriously considered pulling them out and replanting a less ridiculous plant. But, I bought the special food and followed all the silly little directions.

And my high maintenance plants grew and thrived.

They bloomed and look so sweet in my window.


Every morning I wake up to happy little purple flowers adorning my kitchen and I can't help but think that the scene looks like something straight out of a magazine.

And it makes me smile.

Because I'm kinda lame like that.

Simple Pleasures.

***



And so goes it with my girls.

Henry was my Sucker Baby.

The kid only ever cried if he was hungry or tired.

Getting him to stop crying was simple. Quick.

I never *ONCE* had to rock him to sleep, shush him up and down the hallway, or do anything else in the middle of the night. He would wake up, I would feed him, put him back down wide awake, and he would go right back to sleep.

Not a peep.

Every. single. time.

Easy baby.

(Okay, aside from the dairy allergy and the heart condition).

So, I wasn't too stressed about adding a second baby to the brood.

Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt.

Enter in Lucy and Jill.

Persnickity.

They cry a lot more.

And for no apparent reason.

Going to sleep is sometimes Mission: Impossible.

They want to be held.

Always.

Both of them.

Falling asleep in someone's arms? Guaranteed they will wake up when you set them down.

I've been known to wear a path in my hallway in the wee hours of the night.

It's as if I've never done this before.

It's not so much that I get frustrated with them...that's not the right word...it's shocking how much patience I have...considering I don't have very much in everyday life...but I just get...WEARY.

They wear their mama and daddy out some days.

I find myself falling into bed every night. Asleep before I've even hit the pillow.

Yet, as they grow and their little thighs gain darling little rolls and grins can be coaxed out, I fall in love.

And they make me smile.


Simple Pleasures.

I think I just broke a world record: Call the Guiness Book

For longest number of hours consecutively nursing.

99.99999% of the time I tandem nurse (both at the same time).

Last night, someone, let's say it was Lucy, I can't remember...woke up about an hour after the last feeding and wanted to eat. So, I figured that she was just extra hungry so I didn't bother waking up her sister since it hadn't been very long...I would just re-sync them back up at the next feeding. No problem.

About 15 minutes after Lucy was done, asleep and back in bed...Jill wakes up screaming: wanting to eat. Huh? So, I feed Jill. (And remember, nuring sessions are still a 30-40 minute ordeal this early on). Don't bother to wake up Lucy...because...well, she just ate.

Fifteen minutes later...Lucy wakes up...wants to eat.

And on and on it goes. It started at about 1:00 a.m. and continued CONSTANTLY with only short little 15-20 minute breaks until...6:27 a.m. Yeah, that would be 5.5 hours of almost continuous nursing.

6:43 a.m: "Mommy! Daddy!" My bright eyed, well rested two year old is up and ready for the day. Sigh...

Thankfully I have an amazing husband and even though he has to work today, he got up with Henry so that I could sneak a couple of hours of sleep...because, you know, the girls were PASSED.OUT. now that it was daytime.

ATTENTION (again)

It is now 3:44 p.m.

Henry just woke up.

There went that.

But hey, 2 minutes is better than 0 minutes right?

ATTENTION

I just want to let everyone know:

That it is 3:42 p.m.

and all. three. kids. are napping soundly.

Not a peep, cry, whine, squeal, or squirm can be heard.

This may be the first time in 3.5 weeks that this has occurred.

And while I love my children dearly...

It is fantastic.