03 March 2008

Soldiering On

The in-laws came, the in-laws went. All in all, they were very respectful of my time and space, and considering that the weather kept us cooped up at home for a lot of the weekend, the visit went really well. The kids are at an age where they are less needy of me and more willing to go to their grandparents, aunt, and uncle, and that makes everyone feel good. There was much less judgment than I expected, and some nice compliments on my parenting and, of course, how wonderful the kids are.

I was a bit (OK, a lot) short tempered on Sunday morning, though, because I barely got any sleep on Saturday night. Riley was up for a solid chunk of the night. He woke up screaming at 1:45 a.m., seemed to be comforted by a hug and reassurances that Maddie was in the crib next to him, I was next door, and he had his froggie to keep him safe. An hour later, same thing: screaming. That time, the comforting only worked for 10 minutes, and he was screaming again. After a couple of more back-and-forths of no more than five minutes' down time, I brought him to bed with me. He gouged me in the eyes ("Mama, ojos.") and pulled my hair ("Mama, hair.") for 45 minutes, then went to sleep. I slept fitfully until he was up for good at 6:00 a.m. Ugh. Long/short night.

I had hoped that it was an isolated incident, but last night he woke up at 2:45 a.m. This time, he just talked to himself for about ten minutes, the started to cry for me. I decided to go hardcore since he didn't seem scared, just desirous of time with me at a totally inappropriate hour. It was pretty much return to Ferber, with five minute crying intervals. In only (only!) had to go in and comfort him three times, but he was up and futzing around for an hour and a half. He'd be quiet for five minutes, the cry for thirty seconds, quiet for a few minutes, cry for a minute, etc. So I wasn't sleeping. Finally, it was all quiet for good at around 4:30 a.m., and he slept until 6:30 a.m., then woke up happy. Ugh again. Another long/short night. I hope tonight is better.

La la la la. Boring, boring, boring to read about sleepless babies.

Riley loves all things gadgetry. He likes cell phones and cameras and remote controls and computers. My in-laws were very indulgent, letting him hold their cell phones and push buttons on their cameras, something I never do. As I was going through my kitchen junk drawer last night looking for my cell phone charger, I found John's old cell phone. I decided to give it to Riley. He is thrilled beyond belief and has been carrying it around nonstop. When I ask him who he's calling, he'll say, "Ba!" or "Moo!" and open the phone and put it to his ear. It's sweet. I told him the phone was his and his alone, that is used to be his daddy's, and that he did not have to share it—even with Maddie—unless he wanted to. (She has a special purse with the same rules; the gender stereotyping there is a topic for another post!) I asked his paternal grandparents to get both him and Maddie kiddie digital cameras for their second b-days. I think they'll have a blast with them.

So now it's back to work, a new week, an upcoming weekend with no visitors. I'm already thinking that if the weather is good (read: not snowing), I'll take the kids to the zoo. They are really into birds right now. Whenever we go outside, they say, "Birdie? Birdie?" and scan the sky. I need to get a bird feeder to put outside our kitchen window. During breakfast, birds will sometimes happen by, which causes the kiddos much excitement. When the birds fly away, I get plaintive cries of, "Mama? More birdie? More birdie?" They don't understand that I can't make the birds stick around. A feeder would help.

And so is life on this first Monday in March. Pretty mundane, but somehow it turned it into a rather long post.

9 comments:

mlg said...

congratulations for surviving the weekend. Your tales of Riley's fitfull sleep are not at all boring. A wise woman once told me that that is what we are here for : )

Any chance you can get an overnight to yourself. I think I remember your day care did that for you once. Maybe an overnight with a girlfriend or alone is in order. It is amazing how a full night's sleep and a day to yourself changes your outlook on everything. I would keep the twins for you if I was close!

Anonymous said...

If you want a feeder that draws in a lot of birds, try a feeder for golden finches. I never noticed these around our house until my son hung up the feeder. Now they practically swarm the thing. The kids would love them--they are bright yellow and black (not so bright right now with the winter, though)

Rachel said...

:P to Riley for waking mama up. Hope he gets past this phase soon.

I'm glad the visit was bearable.

Bella really liked the Parents record-a-voice phone. It's more realistic than other toy cell phones.

erica said...

My cats love staring and chattering at the birds that drop by our feeder. I tried safflower seeds once, and the birds refused to eat any of it. The black sunflower seeds seem the work the best for the average urban bird. I should try a finch feeder, though.

The baby downstairs (14 months) cries incessantly nearly every night. I'm not sure how the parents cope, but it often sounds like they're using the Ferber method. Oh boy, I can't wait to deal with this when I have children. I think I would pull my hair out in frustration if I had twins...and then I would pull out my husband's hair for good measure. I'm sure we'd be perfectly fine in the end, but I'm terrible without sleep. Hoping there's more sleep in your not too distant future!

Rev Dr Mom said...

I have a feeder that sticks to the window (you've probably seen a picture of it on my blog). It attracts all sorts of birds and I bet the kids would love it if you have a good window.

Glad the weekend with the inlaws went okay, and I hope Riley sleeps better! I so remember those days!

Anonymous said...

Any chance Riley could have an ear infection? My daughter would occasionally throw up and sleep terribly when she had ear infections. Just trying to get you a few more winks :)

Angela said...

I'm glad you survived the weekend with the in-laws and they didn't cause you any added stress or upset, woohoo! Poor little Riley, and poor, poor you, being sleep deprived is absolute hell.I really hope tonight goes much, much better, fingers crossed.

debangel said...

Well if you can't get a bird feeder, try giving the flock your blog address. It sure works for us! =)

It seems Riley has a bright future as a nighttime DJ. Hey, he loves gadgets, get him an old turntable ;)

Don't worry, you're not being boring telling us about babies and sleep deprivation! My response is somewhere between "ouch!", "poor Stacey!", and "so glad that's not me right now", all while trying to knock wood and type at the same time. Hang in there!

Mama Nabi said...

Yay... you survived the in-laws visit.

Hopefully Riley's fitful sleep pattern goes away soon - must be growing pains...? I remember LN going through different sleep patterns during growth spurts.

Yeah, my mom would hand LN her phone and let her play with it... Aw, that's so nice that he now has his own, with sentimental value!