Night Terror

No one expects that people in a house with a new baby will be getting a lot of sleep. However, the lack of sleep in the Richards home is due solely to the 3 year old occupant, NOT the 2 month old.

Sweet Angel

or

Terror of the Night?

Old bedtime routine: Bath, brush teeth, pajamas, magnet chart, stories, go potty, prayers, kisses and hugs goodnight.

New bedtime routine: Same as above. Shut the door. Thump, thump, thump. Max opens the door, runs into Mommy and Daddy's room, laughs. Put back in his bed. Thump, thump, thump. Max opens the door, runs out, laughs. Put back in his bed with stern warnings. Thump, thump, thump. Max opens the door, runs, out, laughs. Over and over and over. Sometimes he gets up several times during the night and has played this game for 2 hours at 3 am.

13 nights of Max refusing to go to bed. For hours. We have tried rewards, taking away privileges, reasoning, threatened, cajoled, and even taken his Pelt. He screams and cries and laughs. We are all frustrated, sad, angry, exhausted, and often in tears.

I know it is a phase. I know he is 3 and his sleep patterns are changing and he wants more independence and to know what we are doing without him. I know we have a new baby in the house. I know it stays light outside long after he goes to bed. I know this started with some fear related to the daily thunderstorms at bedtime and power outages. I know we have to be consistent and it will eventually get better. What I do not know is how in the world we are going to make it that long!

All I can say is thank goodness for a baby who truly sleeps like a baby. Like my little boy used to do. To dream, perchance to sleep....

Busy Workers

The world is full of busy workers. What type of busy worker will you be today?

A train engineer?

A construction worker?

A digger operator?

A garbage man?

A firefighter?

And there are always more jobs to try tomorrow!

The Big Storm

It was supposed to be a relaxing night. Max was spending the night with Mimi and Babba, Daddy was planning to give the baby a bottle, and Mommy was enjoying a rare glass of wine before a late dinner.

The first thing we noticed was how dark the sky had gotten and that the wind was really starting to blow hard. Then came the thunderous boom as part of the large oak in our front yard fell, taking out the power lines and transformer as it dropped. As we raced to the window, the utility pole attached to our house, power box, cables, and lines detached and fell between the study and sun room. We called 911 as we watched it sparking in our yard.

At this point, I decided Sarah and I were going to be leaving the house very soon. I started packing the frozen breast milk into coolers because our power was out and clearly would not be returning in the near future. However, I didn't become really worried until I went upstairs to gather some personal items and saw the two fires burning mere feet away from our house. Then I got scared.

As I was frantically tossing in diapers, the fire continued to boom and blow higher in the air. I grabbed a change of clothes for me and Sarah and my breast pump and ran down the stairs. The fire trucks had arrived (the benefit of having a station a few blocks away), but they said the could not do anything because the lines were live. They assured us they were "watching" our house closely. The power company did not feel it was an urgent priority because the fire was only threatening one house (ours) and the fire department was able to block roads to protect people from it. The power company would not arrive for another 4 hours. The newspaper felt differently and we were featured on the front page of the paper the following day.

I had planned to drive immediately to my parent's house, but when I finally got them on the phone I learned that their power was out also. So Sarah and I headed to my grandparents while Jason stayed behind to guard the house. He called me as he began to pack some important items, just in case.

People always ask what you would take with you in an emergency and this time I had to actually consider the question. My answer: Nothing. I told Jason to make sure he was safe and to locate the cats, but there was not a single thing in our house that I could not live without. Sure, I wanted our photo albums and the computer back-up drive with photos and Jason wanted to rescue some of our more expensive possessions, but ultimately they are not really important. They aren't what makes us a family. They represent the memories we have, but we would still have those with or without the pictures of the events. Don't get me wrong - I was thrilled when Jason finally called in the middle of the night to tell me that the fires were out. But I did giggle when I returned home and found the giant suitcases of stuff next to the front door...Jason is never allowed to pack in our house for good reason.

As we said prayers of thanks for the minimal damage and safety of our family and neighbors, I was also thankful to know that the only truly irreplaceable things in my life and house are the people in it.

D-D-Daddy-0

My Daddy

By Max, age 3 1/2

My Daddy's favorite food is Mac and Cheese.

My Daddy likes to watch cars go by.

My Daddy's favorite restaurant is Panera.

My Daddy's favorite color is green.

My Daddy is good at cooking tortellini.

My Daddy knows all about Max.

My Daddy's favorite thing to do is play with me.

When my daddy feels sad he can play to feel better.

It's funny when Daddy tries to eat me up.

If I could give my Daddy something special it would be a digger.

Thank you Daddy for the home.

My Daddy loves me because he's my Daddy!!

My Daddy

By Sarah, age 9 weeks

My Daddy is aaaaawwwwaah.

Chunky Monkey

Two Months Stats:

Weight: 10 pounds, 13 ounces

Height: 22 3/4 inches

Head: 38 1/4 cm

We thought we'd gotten a short chunker, but she is 36 percentile for weight and 62 percentile for height! Sarah's cheeks and the rolls on her thighs still qualify her as "pleasantly plump"!

Two Months

Dear Sarah,

I think we have a future cheerleader on our hands - you have a voice and are not afraid to use it! The volume has been cranked up and you can rattle our eardrums when you get going. We'll have to test those lungs at the Furman games this fall and see how you do in the stadium. You have an amazing talent to continue to scream even with the pacifier in - our little ventriloquist! Fortunately, you also use your voice to make the sweetest coos and yelps and laughs. Max is enjoying the family tradition of interpreting your sounds and narrating what you are doing. He is thrilled when you give him a pretty smile!

Your brother keeps asking "Does she know this is her home?" and I think the answer is now yes. You seem to recognize your family and have better days when Max is at home with us. Maybe it is because you are forced to conform to his schedule, but you do accommodate it nicely. Unfortunately, you are not a fan of riding in the car or of your grandmother's house, despite loving to have her visit you. I think you are a city girl at heart and just don't want to go out to the country!

Sarah, you are rocking the nighttime sleep. You started sleeping 8-9 hours at SIX weeks old (best baby ever) and have continued to do so consistently each night. I feed you between 9:30 and 10 and sometimes you stay awake for another hour before falling asleep. Either myself or Max wakes you up at 7 when he gets up. Establishing a wake-up time was something we did not do with Max until I went back to work, so I knew we wanted to start it earlier with you. It makes the day so much easier because I know what times you will eat and, hopefully, nap. You still nurse every 3 hours during the day. Stretching out your daytime naps and moving to the crib are the goals for next month. I'm so hesitant to change anything because I don't want to mess up this wonderful sleep pattern!

Max has instructed that I stay with you for "girl time" while he and Daddy have "man time". And I love it! You are content to cuddle or sway or sing or sleep, and although you might cry, you never talk back! At the end of your second month, it feels like we are all settling into a comfortable groove. We have good days and not-so-good days, but overall we feel like a family. A very blessed one!

Love, Mommy