Bits and Tids

*I'm having quite a quandry this afternoon - both buddies are finally down, and there is so much I can/should be doing right now, but I feel like I never have time to blog anymore, and it's cathartic! So, here I am.

*We have had quite a time with naps recently, and are finally seeming to get a handle on things. Israel likes to do the 45-minute nap snack thing, which is simply not long enough. Tim has discovered the fine tuned art of patting (The No Cry Sleep Solution - forget who wrote it)- you pat his bottom hard enough that his head bounces gently up towards the top of the cradle, and he will go back to sleep, to nap for about two hours. I, however, unfortunate as it may be, cannot seem to master this technique when I am home alone. Scowl. Ah well, I guess I'll give it another go later.

















Now, Gabe's naps are a whole different issue. His problem has been that when he feels himself start to get a little sleepy, he will work himself to a fevered pitch by starting to tear around the house yelling at the top of his lungs, until he skids back to a stop in front of you, panting, eyes feverishly bright and a huge and hyper grin on his face. This generally occurs while I'm nursing Israel, and is highly frustrating. So, borrowing from Dr. Weissbluth's methods (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child - or something like that), I popped him in bed the other day right after he asked for his pacifier, which means he is starting to get tired. Then I marched in there sternly everytime he kept cranking himself back awake. Seriously, he will be yelling and banging the crib with his foot - he has to lay there quietly before he gets tired. So, that worked better. It only took him an hour to go to sleep. And that was not an hour of full quietness, mind you, but of "learning to be quiet". I had just had it. When neither of these boys are napping, not only is it not good for them, it's really bad for your mental well-being! You can't ever recharge!

*I got Gabe these two cute little books out of the library called "Sam Eats A Cookie" and "Sam Goes To The Potty". They have one sentence on one little page, and a picture on the other one. In the "Potty" one, Sam is grouchy about going to the potty, and he is looking at the potty and shaking his finger and saying "Dumb ol' potty!" Tim said yesterday that when he was reading to Gabe and got to that page, Gabe laughed and laughed and laughed, and then later he saw him sitting on the couch with the book open to that one page for the longest time, saying "Dumb ol' potty" and laughing and laughing so hard he fell over backwards. :)

*I brought the 12 month clothes out of the attic last night to get some more PJ's for Israel, and they fit just fine! :) A little extra room, but not a lot.

*When Israel is fussy as I'm getting him dressed after his bath, I found a trick that works everytime. I sing

"Hush little baby, don't say a word;
Mama's going to buy you a Geee-geee-geee.

"If that Geee-geee-gee don't Geeee,
Mama's going to buy you a Bbbbbb-bbbbb-bbbbb" (rolling lips).

"If that bbbbb-bbbb-bbbb don't bbbbb,
Mama's going to buy you a dddhh-ddhhhh-dddhhh" (rolling tongue on roof of mouth).

"If that dddhh-dddhh-dddhhh don't dddhhh,
Mama's going to buy you a Geeeee-Bbbbb-Ddddhhh."

Nothing like an intelligent conversation with your child. :) See, people, THIS is what my world has been reduced to! :) But it's all worth it to hear the happy geeeee's coming out of his mouth. That is his happy talking noise that he's been doing from two months on. I keep being surprised to see him do something developmentally new. You get so used to this lump of person staring at you, and all of a sudden they start talking and grinning and trying to sit up, and you're like - oh yes! There's a little person in there!

*So I tried some cereal with Israel. He was very excited. So excited, in fact, that he got TOTALLY worked up again, yelling angrily at the top of his lungs when it wasn't coming RIGHTNOWRIGHTNOWRIGHTNOW!!!!!!! Good-ness. I decided he can wait a little longer. It's just too much work and screaming for something he doesn't even actually NEED yet.















*Huh! I do believe I successfully patted Israel back to sleep! I'm going to go strut my stuff out to the kitchen now and make supper...