On the 4th Day of Christmas

Mommy and Daddy have felt defeated as parents. We have had an ongoing sleep problem with Elias since he moved to a bed. We both were hoping it would pass. It has been four months. It is rather humbling because we both have been somewhat proud of our son's ability to self soothe and get himself to sleep. We made the painful, but important, decision to let him teach himself to sleep. As a baby and a toddler, this system worked. Even when he was in a crib, there were nights when he would be up and playing for an hour to two hours after we put him to bed. However, he always did so quite cheerfully. I can remember one night when I went to bed while he was still singing to himself. He also slept until around 7 on most mornings.

Now, however, the bed has opened a whole new world. We still have a relatively happy child who stays up to all hours. We put him to bed early because he does not nap. He is allowed to look at books for a while and then we turn out the light. The problem that ensues is he keeps turning the light back on and we have found not only books in his bed, but puzzle pieces as well. I also found baby Jesus and other members of the nativity scene in between his sheets. When it is time to turn the light off, he usually protests by screaming and claims he is afraid. Then he ends up staying up as late as 9:3o sometimes. This wouldn't be horrible if he slept until a reasonable time in the morning, but he has been waking up at 5am. I'm afraid that we are just in a bad vicious cycle of sleep deprivation.

We have tried rewards like getting 3 chocolate chips or skittles if he is cooperative about having the light off or stays in bed until 7:00 am. This has really not had much of an impact. His mind seems to be racing so much at night that when I try to turn the light off he asks me questions like "Why did AA Milne write Winnie the Pooh?" The other morning I heard him quietly in his room reading Tubby the Tuba. It was 5am and he just doesn't seem to turn over when he is supposed to and go back to sleep. Last night, we confiscated the light bulbs from all three lights in his room so he couldn't read into the wee hours.

I'm reading a book, which I recommend highly, about parenting called the Blessing of the Skinned Knee. I wish, like many modern parents, that some expert would have the answer. But, I know we probably have to just try to live with it and manage it. However, I do think the experts I know are other parents whose kids have been through this and now sleep well or who never had problems with the big bed. I would love for any suggestions. I need my peers to help us through this parenting challenge. We keep asking ourselves, "Where did we go wrong?"

Starting tonight, we are moving Adelaide upstairs so she won't be woken. We will institute bedtime with a half hour of stories , then lights out. He can scream all he needs to. Then if he wakes up early, we will help him pee and then make him go back to sleep until 7:00. Hopefully, by the end of Lent we will have modified this problem.

Hopefully, this too shall pass.

And the pictures...

Christmastide

Christmas Eve brought a nice surprise. Mommy got a new camera. I think St. Nick noticed that mom's zoom function no longer worked and someone at camp this summer was making fun of its clunky size. Gee, it was only 4 years old, but I'm really happy to have a new one.

We enjoyed worshipping at our own church for the first time as a family on Christmas Eve. While I'm not a huge fan of Christmas pageants, I must say that ours was great. Even though, Elias kept correcting the script. "There was no room in the inn" they would say and he would correct "in the hotel!" What a rare treat to have a captive listener for the whole liturgy of the word. Sure beats last year when I had to nurse Adelaide in a corner of the church and then Elias kept singing "Old MacDonald" every time a hymn started.

Christmas morning began (too) early at 6am when I heard the sound of footsteps, the flick of the light, and a little elf by our bed who proclaimed, "It's Christmas." We succeeded in getting him to wait until 7 and then we went downstairs to open stockings. The stockings were a hit mostly because of tissue paper and the chocolate. Each child also got a vw car and loved pushing them around. I had made a coffee cake and we ate our Christmas breakfast in our Pj's and using the Christmas china tea set.

We didn't really get anything for Adelaide for Christmas. I had purchased her some pajamas and some stocking items, but Adam and I knew she would get presents from everyone else so we opted not to stress about getting her anything. We think her only true hobby is walking around. So, we suggested a doll stroller from her grandparents. That was a hit, but it was soon absconded by her brother and turned into a racing toy. The other present she loved was from her Bibi. Plastic bottles of shampoo and soaps from hotels. She chewed and chewed and walked around with these all day.

Elias was thrilled by the chef's hat we got him. He likes the movie Ratatouille and loves to pretend to cook. He spent all morning not only wearing his hat, but checking out his reflection in it for most of the day. He also got a set of blocks which provided lots of entertainment while we cooked.

We had a fine English meal with roast beef, homemade horseradish sauce, steamed carrots, Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes , and mommy's favorite trifle. It was all delicious and I was glad that I had polished the silver and set a gorgeous table even though we never got a picture of it. It was a glorious start to the Christmas season.

Christmas Eve day began with more snow and going sledding.
Adelaide was still interested in the remnants of fall flowers and she tolerated her boots and snowsuit, but refused to wear mittens. She took one ride in the sled and laughed and laughed.
Elias was tuckered out after shoveling and making a "snowtree." We even added paint to make it green.
Adelaide followed her brother's lead by admiring her Advent calendar at breakfast time.
Elias was thouroughly excited to open the baby Jesus window. Now we are off to decorate our tree, have quiet time, and then go to church. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Cheese!

Yes, she now says, "Cheese" for the camera. What a ham.

Why did Elias say thank you to God?

We have been reading about the 10 lepers who got sick and were healed by Jesus. Only one came back to say thank you. Yesterday, Elias said, "Why did God heal Elias?" (He had the stomach flu.) I said, "Because God wants you to be well." He then replied, "Why did Elias say thank you to God?"

I guess it's especially easy to place yourself in the stories of Scripture when you already see yourself in the third person:)

The King brings a new meaning to the "Throne"

I came downstairs and Elias loudly told me that there was a "king" in the toilet. Sorry for the potty humor, but I fully expected to see something that Elias had proudly created. Instead, we did find a king in the toilet. One of the three kings. It seems Adelaide had dropped him in. Sure does bring a whole new meaning to the "throne."

You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man

Two years ago, we visited the gingerbread house at Clausen's Bakery. We forgot last year. But, this year we went again with our friends, Tim and Madeline. Both children are in different preschools, but both had gingerbread themes. Here they are enjoying the Gingerbread House.

Elias masters the coat flip

I don't know when it is that kids are supposed to be able to dress themselves completely. If I leave Elias' clothes on the floor of his room he can get everything on, including his socks, but you can't be sure how he will be wearing those clothes. Often underwear is backwards and pants can be unbuttoned for the whole day. However, the biggest challenge seems to be getting his coat on. This morning he did it all by himself and announced, " I did the coat flip."

In addition, he came home with his decorated gingerbread house. I appreciate how the school handles Christmas by focusing on the story of the gingerbread man. They read the story. They have 12 cloth gingerbread dolls. They put cinnamon and flour in the sensory table. They have parents bake gingerbread cookies and then the kids decorate them. They do the same with the gingerbread houses. What a great way to keep the focus off of Santa and presents and remain politically correct and secular!

As were were walking home Elias said, "Be careful on the steps, Mommy. Hold onto the banister. It's icy. I don't want you to trip and fall." I guess I am showing some gray already.

On the 15th day of Advent

On the 15th Day of Advent my true *love* gave to me
A flu bug that really hated me

12 Clorox wipes
11 temperatures taken
10 saltine crackers
9 loads of laundry
8 naps a day
7 desperate phonecalls
6 cans of ginger ale
5 golden rings
4 sweaty pajamas
3 sets of dirty sheets
2 adults down
and 1 rug thrown away for good!

Petri Dish

Yesterday, I left to go to the monastery for the afternoon and came home only to see two shadowy figures crossing the street that looked like Adam and Elias. I stopped them to see what was going on. Of course, all I could think was "Where is Adelaide?" It turned out Elias had started throwing-up 20 minutes after I had left and Adam found it really hard to keep Addie from heading to the toilet to sink her fingers in while he was throwing up. So, our neighbor kindly watched her for a couple of hours so Elias could throw-up in peace. Apparently, by the 7th or 8 time he was a pro with the toilet.

I went to bed being thankful that he appeared to be getting better. Unfortunately, about 9 pm I started with night sweats, fever, an achy body, and have not left our room today. I just turned on the computer to see if I could get some friends to watch the kids tomorrow. I'm afraid I'm not strong enough to lift Addie. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm typing and it's only for a few minutes of diversion before I climb back into my bed. Hopefully, Adam and Adelaide will be spared(especially since Addie just got over had, foot, and mouth virus.!)

Todd Palin or ...?

Daddy took the kids off on their first adventure in the Chariot with the cross country ski attachments. They were quite a sight to behold and garnered quite a bit of attention. Here's to hoping the next place we move is not warm... Daddy enjoyed the workout so much he let me take a picture of him in his LLBean Union suit.

Snow Day

Yesterday was our first official snowday. I think we got about 6 inches and it was blowing a lot. I had planned to decorate for Christmas closer to Advent 4, but with the snow and being stuck inside I thought it would be fun to put stuff up. I have always been drawn to creches. As a child, we had this beautiful, old creche and when we would take it out and set it up it still had the newspaper articles and magazines from that era. This creche was from the turn of the century. As a girl, I loved setting the creche up, like a doll house, and of course I always placed the three kings far away and moved them closer when Epiphany came! ( My mother used to rearrange my arranging until she gave us a few of our own.) The few creches I own come from places I have either lived or visited in this world.

My mom and grandmother used to have rooms dedicated to things like creches, and other rooms to Santa Claus, and others to Swedish stuff. Our house seems to be broken down into sacred (creches) and Swedish in the living room. I have placed the growing St. Nick collection in the dining room.

You know, Advent is about being interrupted with the unexpected. So, it makes sense that we decorated yesterday. A glimpse of preparations for the Christ child amid the snow and cold.

Gaga and Papa

The kids enjoyed the hours and hours of attention paid to them by Gaga and Papa. Elias went sledding with Papa and Adelaide took Gaga to her music class. They also helped us make cookies, (well, Gaga did) and Papa found ways to entertain the kids in the basement. It seems Adelaide enjoys being swung in a basket. Elias was also given a lesson on how Lincoln logs work and was so entranced by the chimney. Elias also got to show off his school to both. Thanks for playing with us!

Gingies

'Twas the night before Christmas

Well, not really, but Elias has been throwing around words like "Adavent", St. Nicholas, gingies (for gingerbread man, of course) and Christmastime. He found this red hat in the basement when I went to get out the Advent ring/wreath and the children's creche. He became quite attached, as you can see. Luckily, the Feast of St. Nicholas is on Saturday and we are making St. Nick cookies to have during Christmastime!

Adelaide at 14 months

It seems that Adelaide has begun to show a determined side to her personality. Recently, I have caught her pulling on her brother's clothes when she wants something from him and screaming when she is upset. (Hmm, I wonder where she learned that.) It appears that she is not going to be quite the wallflower that I had hoped for. Overall, though, she is still very "chill" and charming. Her favorite word is still "gentle" and she accompanies that word with a pat on your head. She also has been doing a lot of imaginative play. She likes to sweep and bring things to us upon our request. She goes and gets her coat when it's time to go outside. We have wondered if she has some Indian heritage, though, because lately she has been pointing to something she desperately wants and says "Ghee." Does she want clarified butter or is she trying to say something else? Your guess is as good as mine.