fast times

It's been a whirlwind of work/family juggling this last month. I don't even know where to begin!

Let's start with the year-end celebration of my Nature Preschool in May. The final festivities felt like we were throwing a giant wedding! All went off without a hitch - even the weather cooperated - and the children had a joyful day to celebrate with loved ones.

We said good-bye to diapers Memorial Day weekend.

Fast forward two weeks to the first annual Nature Preschool Conference on June 8-9, 2012. It was a huge success! We had nearly 100 attendees from across the country and a wonderful keynote speaker, author/educator David Sobel. Marty Watson from the Dodge Nature Preschool in MN and Stephanie Bozzo's crew from the Audubon Nature Preschool in MD presented insightful perspectives on how they approach nature-based learning. I've never been more nervous, or felt more relieved, after presenting and learning from this amazing group of conference participants. I'm already making plans for next year's big conference on June 7-8, 2013 at Irvine Nature Center!

Did I mention that I booked a trip to Rehoboth and we left the day after the conference?

So, yes, crazy busy, just how I like it.

The boy is doing BEAUTIFULLY with potty training. I read "Diaper Free Before Three" by Jill Lekovic and the minute I put it down I thought, yep. Let's take this bull by the horns and dive in. Day 1 was the most difficult but we stuck to our guns! We used a pull-up on the first day at his nap and then at bed, but my clever husband said "that's confusing - if we're going to do undies we should get rid of the diapers altogether". How smart he is! On Day 2 we were totally undied up.

For your amusement, this is Day 1 of potty training.
I believe there were 9 wardrobe changes all told.
But smooth sailing from Day 2 forward!

Rehoboth Beach was a great get-away for all of us. I really wanted to re-connect with E after being pulled in so many directions for work. He loved the beach (once he took his hands off his ears). He's highly sensitive to sounds so the crashing waves, laughing children, squawking gulls, and boats took a couple of days to get used to. Thank goodness summer is here!

where'd he learn that?

Any guesses?

Fresh off a new hair cut I guess he had reason to give some 'tude. Can't imagine where he's seen that pose before...

So, you'll be happy to know that day 2 and 3 of "month of meals" were a success! The angel hair pasta with broccoli and parm was a hit (shrimp for the hubs). My homemade mac and cheese was delicious - I used cheddar and pepperjack for some zip. It was well recieved with the in-laws tonight, along with some yummy oatmeal cookies. Needless to say I'm sick of pasta so I'll have to switch it up tomorrow.

Yes, you have mastered the fridge. Now let's close it!

Because of the rain I didn't get to deal with the ivy yesterday. I mean it this time, tomorrow is the day!

am I dreaming? part deux

You'll have to read the first am I dreaming? post to really appreciate this one. But all I can say is hallelujah! I woke up this morning and it was light outside. My toddler was still sleeping! Given the success of our big weekend event at work, we've deemed this a PumpkinFest Miracle.

I tried the new game plan on day three (yesterday) when he woke at 6 a.m. - rock, snuggle, and sing in his room until the sun was up. Our house was calm and we had a great morning together. He even had a two hour afternoon nap (still not his usual three hours, but better than one). His bedtime routine was our usual snuggle story time followed by daddy tooth brushing. Then he went to bed at 8:30 p.m. And he slept until after 7 a.m.!

I don't want to jinx it. But maybe the stars have aligned once again? Could my good sleeper be back?

We are in no-man's-land about the two year molars. I don't think they are in yet, so I'm sure we could be dealing with this for a couple of weeks. I'll be sure to ask the pediatrician when we go for our two year check up.

am I dreaming? toddler sleep issues strike

My wonderfully sound sleeping baby has had two brutal nights of toddler sleep regression. Please tell me this is a bad dream!

Now, I know there are some people that may be rooting for this news from me. After all, my kiddo started sleeping through the night at 2 months and never turned back. You might be thinking "Ha! Finally!" I get it, we've been very fortunate in the sleep department. But now this. 

A 5 a.m.wake up call. Seriously? Doesn't he know I am overseeing a HUGE special event this weekend and I need to sleep?

And what to do?

I'm sure we did EVERYTHING wrong in our sleepy haze. Well, we tried to provide comfort, let him settle down, and put him back in bed. After several unsuccessful attempts, we calmly told him (from outside his door) he needed to do "night nights" because it was still dark.

And then we did the unthinkable. We let him cry.

I stood outside his door as he cried, yelled, banged, pulled on the door, and whimpered, begging for us to comfort him. It felt wrong. I knew it was wrong, letting my baby cry like that. I felt like we were punishing him because he couldn't sleep. We've been such loving parents to him. He must be crushed to think we turned on him when he needed comfort. I feel HORRIBLE about this.

But I had all those obnoxious, well-meaning voices in my head saying "he's going to have to learn he has to stay in bed". I hate myself for not trusting my own instincts.

We know our baby. We've worked hard to establish a loving, trusting relationship with him. Not to mention happy, safe, relaxing sleep routines.

Naturally, I turned to the internet to see if other people have experienced this with their toddlers (he'll be two next month) and what potentially causes this. Here's what I gleaned from my "research":

Maybe he's too little to be in a bed. For his safety, we had to take one side off the crib a couple of months ago and replace it with a rail because he was trying to climb out. But some people say toddlers lack the self-control to stay put once they realize they can get out. I don't think this is the problem. At least, not yet.

Maybe he's hitting a milestone. Some sites suggest that when babies are focused on a new skill (like younger babies before they learn to crawl or walk), their sleep patterns regress. I had heard of this before and this could make sense since he's starting to talk. Maybe he's just so revved up that he can't unwind.

Maybe he's having bad dreams. Toddlers' memories get stronger so they can replay images in their heads and remember dreams. He's not in a scary environment, but then, remembering the neighbors dog jumping up on him or our cat chasing the local fox might seem pretty scary to him. This bad dream explanation would make sense since his afternoon nap is cut short and he is waking between 5-6 a.m.

Maybe he's cutting his 2-year molars. YIKES! The WHAT? Yeah, somehow I didn't get the memo on this one and wasn't smart enough to put two and two together. He's been drooling alot and I thought I saw some little bumps around his chin a few days ago. Why didn't I realize that was a rash from the drool? Then today at the store, he bit his snack and winced, then stuck his finger in his mouth. Yeah, I'm thinking this is what the problem is.

So there we were. Cliche ignorant, tired parents debating what to do and failing miserably. I feel sick to my stomach about this - him screaming and crying in pain. I should have trusted my gut to comfort him.  Here are more reasons not to let your toddler "cry it out":

-You have to de-sensitize yourself to your baby's cries.
-You have to ignore your instincts as a parent. Why would we want to do that again? To follow inaccurate theories from people 50 years ago?
-You potentially overlook health issues or illness (in our case teething).
-He's got two years of great sleep habits under his belt, so this is just a temporary sleep disturbance. Figure out the cause and address it. Making him cry will not improve things if the problem is physical. In effect, you'll be punishing him for waking that is out of his control and losing sleep over it as he cries.
-He'll start to fear going to sleep because it will no longer feel like a safe, peaceful environment. (This will then impact naps and betimes.)

New game plan: Wake up as soon as he does, no matter how early. Rock, snuggle, and sing. Hope that he falls asleep in my arms and that I fall asleep, too. Hope that he forgives us.

care for some bubbly? (with video, too!)

"Wanna go to the river?!" He looked at me and blinked.

Now that we're getting sun kissed and breaking a sweat outside, heading to the river was just the right bubbly we needed. Cromwell Valley is a great park that is quickly becoming a second backyard to us. The woods are beautiful and the trails well maintained. But my favorite part is Mine Run. It's not quite big enough to be a river but too large for me to consider it a stream. (I guess that's why it's called a 'run'.) Either way, it's a babbling waterway with shallow stretches, perfect for the little guy to test his footing.

Can you see the wonder in his eyes?

Here's our other bubbly: bubbles. As you can see, E is very skeptical...

Seriously mom. What are those things?

man of mystery

He's not giving away any of his secrets...

Okay, so he's not a man. More like a wiggly, squishy larva. Like a tadpole. A tadpole that giggles, babbles, and can't swim or jump. And boy is he mysterious.

The latest mystery is why he has been sleeping like a hibernating bear all week. For five days he's napped for five hours a day on average. FIVE! (And yes, he sleeps through the night from 8:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.) Now, I'm not complaining mind you. But it's strange! It's too soon for me to be seriously worried, but still, a mystery nonetheless.

My husband and I have brainstormed all manner of explanations for the gracious gift of naps he has bestowed upon us this week. On-coming virus. Teething. Growth spurt. What else could it be?

I'm going to enjoy the free time while our cub snoozes. Perhaps our mystery will be solved next week?