Thursday
Thursday
* To see entries from 2001, click here *Click on all pictures to enlarge
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You can almost see his halo! |
The latest toy |
Boy this carpet sure is rocky! |
Sunday March 3rd 2002
7 and half months
This week Aaron and I made some decisions about Kate and Aiden's sleeping habits. They continue to stir around 4am. All they need is to be rewrapped and have their dummies put in and they will go back to sleep. Gone are those days where they slept right through. We really wish we could get some uninterrupted sleep. I rang the Helpline again to talk about the controlled comforting/crying as I just couldn't see how it would help Kate and Aiden. The reason I say this is because they aren't wanting to get up, nor are they crying desperately, they are just needing to be rewrapped and have their dummy put in. If we were to do the controlled comforting and go in after 2 minutes they would settle straight away and there would be no point AND the next night they will wake up again.
The thing is they are relying on us to help them settle back to sleep when they hit a light sleep cycle. They are reliant on their wraps and their dummies. After much research and discussion we decided we would start with removing the wraps. We had originally planned to remove the wraps AND dummies, put Kate and Aiden into separate rooms and do the hard-core controlled crying so they would get used to settling themselves. We toyed with this idea and then decided it was too harsh. We would start with removing the wraps.
This is quite a scary thing to do when it was something that really saved us in the early days and it works so well. Still it had to be done. So after buying Dr Ferber's Sleep book, researching on the net, asking online friends for advice and talking it over we just stopped wrapping them at their afternoon nap. You know what happened don't you?
For all intents and purposes they fell straight to sleep! Don't you just love them! After all our agonizing and our anticipating they didn't mind at all. The first night they slept as per usual with about 2 wake ups.
Last night? Forget it, crying every 15 minutes from 2:30am. We have to be brave and separate them and do some controlled crying even though we are hoping it will fix itself. They have until the end of the day to show us some teeth as a probable cause otherwise Mummy and Daddy may just get serious.
The next thing is to make their first nap time later. Currently they are tired and cranky at 8am after getting up at 6:30am. I am going to try to gradually stretch it out to 9am. This will hopefully result in them getting this extra bit of sleep in the early hours of the morning.
We have hired a new toy for Kate and Aiden, a gorgeous red buggy. They bounce in it like crazy and it is hilarious. It looks like they are cruising along.
Kate seems to develop new skills one to two weeks ahead of Aiden. Currently she is into reaching, grabbing and dragging things into her mouth. She would like you all to remember that you should never be in such a hurry that you can't stop to admire and play with the door knobs.
Aiden screams. A high pitched, make-the-neighbours-wonder-if-they-should-call- the-police-scream. This isn't the weak little screaming/ screeching I mentioned a few weeks ago. We feel compelled to applaud after each one.
STOP PRESS: We have a tooth! I just felt in Aiden's mouth and sure enough there is something sharp.....he'll do anything to get out of controlled crying!
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Thursday March 7th 2002
7 months 3 weeks
This has just been the most amazing week! So much as happened. Yes, we finally started the controlled crying. If you have too much time on your hands, or are just plain curious, I have kept a detailed journal all about the controlled crying (see the link above). This is mainly for my own records but feel free to read it.
I'll sum it up. I did the main part of the controlled crying during the day on Tuesday. I removed all dummies from sleep times and playtimes. Kate and Aiden coped remarkably well and they are currently sleeping in separate rooms. When doing any controlled crying I only ever had to go in at 4 minutes and then they would be asleep. It has been surprisingly easy. The only terrible time was late one afternoon when Aiden refused to sleep and just screamed and sobbed. I ended up getting him up. It didn't happen again because the next day I was successful it making the first nap time later and therefore Kate and Aiden only had 2 naps, which was my intention.
They have slept through every night without any controlled crying. The only time we did some was this morning when Kate woke up too early. She didn't fall back to sleep but she wasn't allowed up until normal time.
Here are this week's exciting developments:
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Kate cut 2 teeth, 2 days after Aiden cut his |
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Aiden's 2nd tooth is visible under the gum |
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Kate and Aiden are dummy-less |
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They are remarkably happy and sociable (I think finally cutting teeth has helped) |
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Aiden is able to listen and respond to a command to open his mouth when eating solids |
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Aiden rolls himself over and sleeps on his tummy |
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They are on 2 naps a day |
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We no longer give formula at the roll over feed |
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They have slept through every night (we think the last month worth of problems may well have been caused by teething) |
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Eating soft lumpy foods as opposed to pureed mush |
We're just so delighted with Kate and Aiden and these great developments. The controlled crying is going so well we are almost too afraid to believe it. We're all finding our own rhythm with our new routine. We fully expect to have some challenging nights, but so far so good.
At the roll over feed Aaron and I just gaze at them like pathetic parents as they look so beautiful asleep without wraps. Whilst I am making confessions I will also admit that we sometimes sneak into their rooms to look at them sleep!
Sunday March 10th
Almost 8 months (where has the time gone??)
When Kate smiles you can see her two little teeth poking out. You can barely see Aiden's one tooth but it's there! He does claim victory in the race for the first tooth though. I was really surprised at how easy teething was. I would say the month leading up to it was worse than when they were cutting through. Of course we had been blaming everything on teeth for the last 4 months so it was nice to finally be right!
When the teeth actually started cutting, between them they had most of the symptoms: red cheeks, red rash, slight nappy rash, biting things, loads of pooping.
Today Aaron and I took Kate and Aiden to their first swimming lessons in the Water Babies class. What a great class it is. You play all sorts of games and swirl the babies around in the water. You sing songs as you play the games. We did the Hokey Pokey, Humpty Dumpty (they sat on the edge of the pool and dropped in), Row Row your boat (where they all sat on a buoyant mat and we dragged them along, knocking several of them over on the way). The instructor poured water over their heads as we all sang Incey Wincy Spider. Great fun really.
In some of the games you had to put the kids under the water. You know how in documentaries they show babies swimming serenely under water? Not! Ours came up spluttering. What you have to do is count to 3 and then blow on their face really hard. This forces them to take a breath and then you pull them under water forehead first. Quite a lesson in coordination, especially when you are a nervous parent. Kate and Aiden survived and we all got better at it. I had Kate today and Aaron had Aiden. Next week we'll swap.
Controlled crying is still going well. We do have good and bad naps but we are learning all the time. Today was basically a perfect day. They had two good naps and needed no controlled crying. Hope it continues!
Boy have we all come a long way in a week!
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Friday March 22nd
8 months
Life has slipped into a new routine of a good night of sleep and a solid daytime routine. Kate and Aiden sleep right through, consistently. We have also stopped the 10pm roll over feed and we now just let them sleep. This has worked really well and gives me so much freedom. I can even go to bed early now!
In the morning Kate, Aiden and I enjoy a relaxing and nice start to the day. It's funny how easily life slips into rituals and I must say I really enjoy our mornings together.
I breastfeed them and we wake Daddy up...several times.... and then eventually yell until he gets out of bed. Kate and Aiden have playtime in the playroom, usually in their buggies whilst Aaron and I have breakfast and a shower.
At 8am Aaron leaves for work and Kate, Aiden and I play for a while longer. As soon as they start to complain I take them out onto the back verandah and put them into their highchairs, ready for cereal (note: I use the term "cereal" loosely, it's that sloppy rice cereal stuff). Kate and Aiden share a small bowl and then share a tub of yoghurt. We would be lost without yoghurt.
After breakfast we all go for a walk. I have to be very careful not to face Kate and Aiden into the sun or they fall asleep - something I do not want to happen until nap time. So on some mornings I walk along, leaning over, turning Aiden's head back to the front because as soon as he turns it to the side I know he is about to sleep. We must look very strange.
There are 2 schools in our area and we walk between both of them so as we progress on our walk the colour of the uniforms change, as does the direction in which the kids are walking. We wave to the man who jogs every morning and we see the little old Italian woman clothed from head to toe in black. Every morning she walks to the corner and back for no apparent reason. You can set your clock by her as she shuffles along.
We pass the elderly lady in her dressing gown who comes out of her neighbour's yard and into hers, carrying a paper. Is she stealing it? What a scandal! She never looks guilty so I resist the urge to tackle her to the ground and make a citizen's arrest.
Our walk isn't very long but it is so lovely, particularly with the weather being so perfect lately. The sun shines, the birds sing....all we need is "It's a Wonderful World" as background music and it would be perfect.
When we get home the neighbourhood is quiet as the siren has gone at the school heralding the start of the day. We see the last few stragglers running into the school gate as we enter our yard.
With about 45 minutes until nap time we get into the Jolly Jumpers and watch the Baby Einstein video. This mesmerizes Kate and Aiden and they just love it. We swing and bounce and laugh until it is naptime.
Kate and Aiden fall into a peaceful sleep happily and easily. It really is an enjoyable way to start the day.
Here's what I look like when I am teething...it's also what a squirrel looks like when it has swallowed a whole winter's supply of nuts |
Fanks for the Easter bunnies Aunty Georgie (yes that is drool all over my top) |
What do you mean, I can't have the pink one? |
Kate!
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March 28th
8 and half months
Aiden has FOUR teeth almost through up the top. He is such a lovely, happy baby that he continues to smile all day, teething apparently doesn't bother him. Judging by Kate's grizzling, teeth do bother her! She doesn't have bulging gums but she does have other symptoms. Luckily they still sleep through the night.
Kate has really discovered the joy of chewing on rusks and on bread. Both Kate and Aiden can chew bread now and they make a huge mess. Be careful where you sit in our house as you can sure to find wet, soggy bread.
Their dexterity is amazing. They can lift a little door on a toy barn and fetch out a rotund little cow. They can also throw every toy off of the apparatus upon which they sit.
Neither of them are crawling but we are endeavoring to spend more time rolling on the floor, well Kate and Aiden are, we try to restrain ourselves.
Last week at swimming Kate and Aiden got their first certificate and I am ashamed to admit that Aaron and I are tickled pink. We have their certificates proudly displayed on the fridge. They got their certificates for swimming under water unaided. The instructor took them each in turn, submerged them deep under water and watched as they swam to us! As we looked down we saw a big pair of eyes coming up out of the water. They didn't cry once during this lesson (our 3rd one). They finally seem to know what is going on.
We chose the name Aiden after I heard it many many years ago. We didn't know any other baby with this name and we thought it would be quite unique. It seems to be gaining rapidly in popularity. There are 3 Aidens all together at swimming!
