Natalee has quite a bedtime routine these days. Since we've started back to full time work for mom and dad she has to get up earlier which means she goes to bed earlier. By around 7:30 she's beat from her super fun day at Lora Jean's (pretty sure every day there is super fun) and she's looking for her "kankie" and "Cout". As we round them up and head over the gate and up the stairs she starts asking, "barn?" "tars?" These means that, once again, she hasn't forgotten about her new favorite book
(don't own it? you SHOULD!)We have restricted her to reading it once through for bedtimes although we read it thousands of other times during the day (unless we forget it upstairs--he, he!). It's a good book and she LOVES IT! Can't beat a little pink pig learning to squeal and a field mouse being born in a field of corn!
Anyhow...after the book she'll be looking for her 'tars.' Shortly after Xavier was born 2 large boxes showed up on my porch from Cloud B company. There was no card attached so we didn't know who they were from. After determining they were intended for us (from a generous aunt of mine) we opened them up and inside were beautiful gifts. There was a giraffe gift set for Mr. Xabe--the Gentle Giraffe, a giraffe rattle, and a bamboo set of 3 burp cloths, swaddling blanket, and sleep sack.
And not forgotten was a gift for Miss Sis that she has fallen in love with--the Twilight Sea Turtle.
She has slanted ceilings in her room so the stars literally surround her...it is pretty cool. The only rough part is that at 7:30 at night it's still pretty light out...and even with the new curtains I made for the kids' room the stars are hard to see. But she's not dissuaded.
And so, with those 2 items, a blankie, a sucker (pacifier), and her beloved Scout, she's out. I remember back when we were having trouble getting her to go down to sleep and I was wondering if she'd ever do it on her own. And finally Mike & I decided that when she was 16 we'd be wishing we could rock her one more time--so we gave up and rocked her to sleep. In the final weeks before I had Xavier we did begin patting her back when she woke up crying--always going in to comfort her but not getting her out of her bed anymore...and it worked (except when she's sick). But I'll be honest--sometimes in the wee hours of the morning if she wakes fussing we still let her climb between. It's our parenting style--not for everyone but definitely for us. Feet in our backs, tiny little head on our pillow...someday we'll surely miss this! But we're also proud of the big girl she's become and happy that she's comfortable going for naps and ni nights on her own...one of the many ways she's proving to us that she's growing up.
Xavier is also gotten himself into a comfortable bedtime routine. After we put Natalee to bed he gets some one on two parent fun time. We lay on the floor and play with his giraffe toys (he has 2 different ones now!), have tummy time, make faces and chat! Around 8 he nurses, but since I've gone back to work my supply isn't great even with my herbal supplement (I also nurse him after work) so back to back feedings don't satisfy him quite enough. So around 9ish he takes a 5 ounce bottle. We keep him up a little longer, as he's always pretty cheery after his belly's full. He smiles and kicks around, often playing with daddy while I run through the shower. By 9:30-10:00 his eyes are growing heavy and he's ready for a snuggle and a binky. He drifts off--and on a good night he lasts until 5, sometimes only until 3:30 or 4:00. When he wakes he nurses and then if it's before 5 I drift back off for awhile--if not I force myself to get up while he gets to snooze. Already he's losing the "newborness" about him and turning into an infant. He's smiling, tracking with his eyes, recognizing our faces & voices and sleeping like a big boy.
We are so blessed by our good sleepers!
Anyhow...after the book she'll be looking for her 'tars.' Shortly after Xavier was born 2 large boxes showed up on my porch from Cloud B company. There was no card attached so we didn't know who they were from. After determining they were intended for us (from a generous aunt of mine) we opened them up and inside were beautiful gifts. There was a giraffe gift set for Mr. Xabe--the Gentle Giraffe, a giraffe rattle, and a bamboo set of 3 burp cloths, swaddling blanket, and sleep sack.
And not forgotten was a gift for Miss Sis that she has fallen in love with--the Twilight Sea Turtle.
She has slanted ceilings in her room so the stars literally surround her...it is pretty cool. The only rough part is that at 7:30 at night it's still pretty light out...and even with the new curtains I made for the kids' room the stars are hard to see. But she's not dissuaded.And so, with those 2 items, a blankie, a sucker (pacifier), and her beloved Scout, she's out. I remember back when we were having trouble getting her to go down to sleep and I was wondering if she'd ever do it on her own. And finally Mike & I decided that when she was 16 we'd be wishing we could rock her one more time--so we gave up and rocked her to sleep. In the final weeks before I had Xavier we did begin patting her back when she woke up crying--always going in to comfort her but not getting her out of her bed anymore...and it worked (except when she's sick). But I'll be honest--sometimes in the wee hours of the morning if she wakes fussing we still let her climb between. It's our parenting style--not for everyone but definitely for us. Feet in our backs, tiny little head on our pillow...someday we'll surely miss this! But we're also proud of the big girl she's become and happy that she's comfortable going for naps and ni nights on her own...one of the many ways she's proving to us that she's growing up.
Xavier is also gotten himself into a comfortable bedtime routine. After we put Natalee to bed he gets some one on two parent fun time. We lay on the floor and play with his giraffe toys (he has 2 different ones now!), have tummy time, make faces and chat! Around 8 he nurses, but since I've gone back to work my supply isn't great even with my herbal supplement (I also nurse him after work) so back to back feedings don't satisfy him quite enough. So around 9ish he takes a 5 ounce bottle. We keep him up a little longer, as he's always pretty cheery after his belly's full. He smiles and kicks around, often playing with daddy while I run through the shower. By 9:30-10:00 his eyes are growing heavy and he's ready for a snuggle and a binky. He drifts off--and on a good night he lasts until 5, sometimes only until 3:30 or 4:00. When he wakes he nurses and then if it's before 5 I drift back off for awhile--if not I force myself to get up while he gets to snooze. Already he's losing the "newborness" about him and turning into an infant. He's smiling, tracking with his eyes, recognizing our faces & voices and sleeping like a big boy.
We are so blessed by our good sleepers!
3 comments:
what a cool sea turtle! why didn't they have those cool things when my kids were little?? i hear ya on letting your kids in bed with you. we let our kids sleep with us, but they are now in their beds and there are times when bronson or braylon crawl in bed with us and it is fun to just snuggle them. like you said.... it won't last forever.
Levi has a projector/sound machine in his room that we would not have made it without.
I'm glad you have two great sleepers.
You are doing a great job of keeping updates on here! I need to do that better. Great post.
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