Ah, Wednesday...

You're going to get a bit of rambling today. Sorry. 

My son is currently sitting on his little riding car wearing 2 baseball caps and Elmo slippers. Quite funny. 

I have some errands to run today, mainly buying more diapers and milk and bananas. The lifeblood of my house, we can't seem to operate without those items. I also need to bake more bread. 

I bit the bullet and ordered some cloth diapers today. I've been wanting to use them for some time, but I keep hoping that he'll be potty-trained soon.  He's not showing much interest yet. Then I remembered that even if he does, he's not likely to stay dry through the night for several months/years after that, so I could need diapers for quite a while still. Boo. We'll see how cloth goes though. 

I've been reading The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers by Elizabeth Pantley to see if it had some ideas for us. (Thanks Mommy Geekology for the recommendation!) My biggest take-away so far: we are completely normal. All of the things that I was seeing as problems, are just normal for his age. Which makes me feel a lot better. We will be reinstating a set bedtime and expanding on his bedtime routine a little. We had done those before, but basically got lazy and stopped. It's created problems like never knowing when he's going to fall asleep and unpredictable naps. So, we're getting back on the program. 

Oh, part 2 will come later today or tomorrow, including some excerpts from my diary. Fascinating stuff, I know! 

Schedules

Since becoming a SAHM one of the things I've struggled with the most is our schedule. I wasn't quite sure how our day should be structured or what we should even be doing. Do I try to teach him now, or wait until he's older? What kind of structure should I be aiming for? How often should he be interacting with other kids?

I'm trying to figure it out as we go, learning, researching, seeing what others do. It's possible that this is part of my problem lately. There's no focus to my life, no concrete plan. As someone who always needs a plan, this throws me off. 

So, I'm getting back on the planning wagon. I figure with just a little more work, I can bring some organization to our days and feel better about it. 

We've also adjusted our bedtime for Connor. I was pushing him to go to sleep at 8:30 when he apparently just wasn't ready then. He was still sleeping until 8:30 in the morning and his naps were suffering, only taking 30 minutes. And then after he got night terrors, we decided to make some changes. By waiting until 9:30 or 10, he sleeps better at night (he's slept through the night ever since) and his naps are back to normal. He's just a night owl. 

Why haven't I learned yet that Connor does things his own way, on his own time? I can't force him to do anything. 

Cries in the Night

Connor went to bed as usual last night. Teeth brushed, PJs, story, kisses and lights out. All good. Then at just before midnight he woke up yelling and crying inconsolably. 

I heard the crying in my dreams first. Then I woke up and went into his room to calm him down. But nothing I did helped. He continued to cry for a long time. My husband woke up and came in the room too. I tried to lay Connor back down in his bed, but he just sat back up again. I tried holding him, but he kept straining against me, pushing on my arms as if to get away. I continued to hold him as best I could until he finally calmed down. I put him back in bed, pulled the blanket up and waited to make sure he was ok. Then I went back into my room and fell asleep. 

A few hours later, my husband repeated the process when Connor woke up again screaming. He turned on the hall light thinking that maybe the darkness was scaring him. 

An hour later, Connor was up crying again. This time he was at the top of the stairs in the hallway. At this point I picked him up and brought him into our bed. Being in the same room as us tends to calm him down, but he still had a hard time falling back asleep. 

I'm not sure what to do for him. He might be having nightmares, but I think it's actually night terrors. I know that can happen with kids his age, but it doesn't make it any easier. There's literally nothing we can do to calm him down, just wait it out. And often he doesn't even open his eyes while he's crying. I'm not sure he remembers any of it. I feel so helpless when this happens, but it's not every night. Hopefully, he won't have another one for a while.