Sunny Day
Thursday, August 21, 2014
No More Napping
August 21
Juna did not nap today. We are getting ready for early bedtime and she says, "I hope I can take a nap this year."
August 27
No more napping happening here. Just when I thought I'd get a little more time with preschool, I'll actually have less... at least awake productive hours. She is going to sleep around 7:30-8, but I am so exhausted from the long day with her that I don't want to do anything. I guess once we get used to this new schedule, I'll start having more energy in the evening. Anyway, I need to start finding some regular afternoon activities to keep us going. This new schedule also means she'll have a lot less time with daddy They will have to make up for it on the weekends. It also means an end for our late afternoon outings, since we have to be home and starting our bedtime routine by 6:30. Boy, does this change things. And I fought it. But it's been 3 weeks since she started missing naps... and now we've had a run of 5 days. It is super exhausting to try to put her down for nap and then not have one... so I'm giving up.
August 30
On the 7th day, I went to take a nap while Juna watched TV. I never napped with her before, now that she's not napping, I have to lay down for 15 minutes at her naptime. She's been watching more TV since the no-napping began. I tried a quiet time, which lasted 5 minutes, then she ran out of her room crying because she was scared. Then we did another 5 minutes with her on the couch. So, I told her she could play, watch TV, or lay with me, if she wanted to nurse... the one advantage of not napping is cutting out a nursing, but she still wants to nurse at naptime... so after her coming in and out a dozen times with various requests, she decided to lay with me. It took a little while but we both fell asleep for almost 2 hours.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Juna's New Room Or Decorating On A Dime
The Theme: Night Owl
When Juna was about half a year, we were all sitting around, and I thought to look up our "spirit" or "totem" animals for fun. I googled it and put in our birthdays. Ever since, if you ask Juna she will tell you, "Mama is a bear. Daddy is a bat. Juna is an owl." She loved owls before and ever since. So, the theme was a given. I decided to do a mural of a night sky, with a big yellow moon and stars, and a silhouette of an owl on a tree branch. Ever since Juna could point, she has always noted the moon, so I've always called her my "moon spotter." She also loves "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," which has been a song I used to sing her to sleep since the beginning.
The color, of course, would be blue... the sky. One wall would be a darker accent wall with the mural and the other walls, a slightly lighter shade of the same blue.
Because The Rug Makes The Room
The rug search. I looked at hundreds of rugs and finally found the perfect one. The rug was really the cornerstone of the room, as the room colors would be based on the rug. This one was round with different colored circles. I ordered in, in plenty of time, and waited. I got an email nine days later... no rug. It was discontinued, which i knew, which is why I searched and searched to find a place that still had it in stock. They didn't. So the search continued, but by that time, it was too late to order anything in time for Juna's birthday. I searched local stores but couldn't find anything that was perfect. I was beginning to accept that I would have to settle, until I came across another perfect rug... but not local. I called to make sure they actually hah the rug and ordered it that day. The person I spoke to said she would rush the shipping and it should arrive in three days. It didn't. I waited and waited and waited. I called on all of powers of patience. Finally I contacted them and they told me to contact Fed Ex, and I did, and I did again and again... until someone finally confirmed that the rug was lost in the void of lost-shipped things. The rug company sent me another one... in two days. But Juna's birthday had come and gone by them. So, nineteen days later, when the rug arrived, it was time to find the colors for Juna's room.
Finding The Right Blue In a World Of Blues
This took a week, and tree trips to the paint store. The color couldn't be matched using there machine, so I had to do it by sight, with Juna and rug in tow. But I found them. (colors) That weekend, Jody painted the room on Saturday while I had Juna out for the day, minus coming home for nap, of course. And they were perfect. The folowing day was my turn and my father's, while Jody took her out for the day.
An Owl And A Treehouse
We had recently visited the preschool that we choose for Juna. There, they had a loft. I love those, and grew up with that sort of thing and it was wonderful. I started to envision that sort of thing in Juna's room, but it is so small and seemed a lot of work. I was planning on redoing her closet, with my father's help, so that all of her clothes could be housed there and accessible to her (during age two she had started dressing herself and it was very important to her). So, I am looking in the closet, thinking of shelving, etc... and there is all of this empty space on top, storage I guess... then, bam... I thought, a loft, a treehouse! Perfect. So, on Sunday, my father came over and began building her treehouse, while I worked away painting the owl and moon on her wall.
Organizing: Closet, Clothes, Toys & Books
- The quilt
Monday, September 30, 2013
No Naps Changes Everything
The road to not napping is paved with good intentions.
It is a long, arduous journey into night.
It starts with the occasionally missed nap.
Our world has always been very routine.
Juna's always napped at the same time for the same amount of time.
If she doesn't, it is one of the first signs that something is amiss.
She might be sick, or teething, reaching a milestone or a growth spurt.
So, she here and there missed a nap... once a month, once every 3 weeks, 2 weeks...
until we were down to an average of a missed nap every week on a regular basis.
But, she was still napping the other 6 days, then it was 5 days, then 3 or 4.
Oh, I fought it. We tried every day. But the trying got harder and harder.
There were a lot of days when she or I or both of us were in tears.
There were so many days when we were both exhausted, but she didn't nap.
I would spend all my energy putting her down for her nap,
then, if she didn't sleep, then I was completely spent,
but still had 3 or 4 very long, I mean, never-ending hours before a short break.
When we got to the point when trying to take a nap was harder then not,
I finally gave up the ghost. We stopped napping. Life was over, as we knew it.
That was about 6 weeks ago. At first, I had to take a "nap."
I never napped with her before, but i would be so tired,
I would have to lay down for 15-20 minute (that's about all she would allow).
She had the option of laying with me, not very restful for me,
but in the early days of no more napping,
it meant the possibly of her also falling asleep,
or she could play by herself.
Every sleep transition has been an extremely difficult time for us.
Except maybe the first, when she started 2 naps around 3 months old.
The summer of 1, she went down to one nap.
the summer of 2, her nap became later and shorter,
the summer of 3, she stopped napping, and everything has changed.
No Naps Changed EVERYTHING
1. Earlier bedtime. From 9:30 to 7:30. (you think yay, but wait for it)
2. Earlier wake-up. From 7:30 to 6:30 to 6:00 to 5:30 to 5. What?
3. Juna's always fell asleep really quickly (from 2-10 minute at nap, 10-15 minutes at bedtime) until this past year (15-20 minutes at nap, 15-30 minutes at bedtime), now she is so tired at bedtime, she falls right to sleep... however, she is falling asleep while nursing... errrrrr. We stopped that long ago.
4. For a while she was waking up every 45-60 minutes for the first 4 hours.
5. She doesn't sleep through the night anymore, not yet. She usually wakes 3 times now, but woke a lot more at the beginning of the transition.
6. When she wakes, she doesn't go right back to sleep, which she always did before... which meant, that I also went right back to sleep. Now it can be 20-30 minutes, and I think that is why, if she wakes at 5 or later, she doesn't go back to sleep. If we are awake more then 10 minutes, it is very hard to go back to sleep.
7. She now has to get up to use the potty in the middle of the night, she never did this before (I guess she just held it all night).
8. Because she is waking more and staying awake longer during those wake-ups, she also has other needs... I need to find my baby, I need water, I need aloe for my bug bites, etc.
9. Long long long long days. Did I say long days? 5:30 am until 7:30 pm on our longest, if I'm lucky, I get a 45 minute break before bedtime. Of course, she is in preschool these days (if she's not sick, which makes the days twice as long), so I don't have too many of these days... but even the days in school, the afternoon is so long, because that is the tired part of the day.
10. Juna and I can be cranky, moody and impatient in the afternoons, without a nap. She can also be whiny.
11. We have eliminated one nursing. Yay. But she still wants to nurse all the time. And now, we nurse so so long in the morning, so I can keep her in bed until 6 or 6:30.
12. We have to go out and do something in the afternoons, or we get tired and cranky. It's hard to come up with things to do. It's hard not to spend money to do things. There aren't as many friends hanging out in the afternoons.
And then there are the changes for me...
It is a long, arduous journey into night.
It starts with the occasionally missed nap.
Our world has always been very routine.
Juna's always napped at the same time for the same amount of time.
If she doesn't, it is one of the first signs that something is amiss.
She might be sick, or teething, reaching a milestone or a growth spurt.
So, she here and there missed a nap... once a month, once every 3 weeks, 2 weeks...
until we were down to an average of a missed nap every week on a regular basis.
But, she was still napping the other 6 days, then it was 5 days, then 3 or 4.
Oh, I fought it. We tried every day. But the trying got harder and harder.
There were a lot of days when she or I or both of us were in tears.
There were so many days when we were both exhausted, but she didn't nap.
I would spend all my energy putting her down for her nap,
then, if she didn't sleep, then I was completely spent,
but still had 3 or 4 very long, I mean, never-ending hours before a short break.
When we got to the point when trying to take a nap was harder then not,
I finally gave up the ghost. We stopped napping. Life was over, as we knew it.
That was about 6 weeks ago. At first, I had to take a "nap."
I never napped with her before, but i would be so tired,
I would have to lay down for 15-20 minute (that's about all she would allow).
She had the option of laying with me, not very restful for me,
but in the early days of no more napping,
it meant the possibly of her also falling asleep,
or she could play by herself.
Every sleep transition has been an extremely difficult time for us.
Except maybe the first, when she started 2 naps around 3 months old.
The summer of 1, she went down to one nap.
the summer of 2, her nap became later and shorter,
the summer of 3, she stopped napping, and everything has changed.
No Naps Changed EVERYTHING
1. Earlier bedtime. From 9:30 to 7:30. (you think yay, but wait for it)
2. Earlier wake-up. From 7:30 to 6:30 to 6:00 to 5:30 to 5. What?
3. Juna's always fell asleep really quickly (from 2-10 minute at nap, 10-15 minutes at bedtime) until this past year (15-20 minutes at nap, 15-30 minutes at bedtime), now she is so tired at bedtime, she falls right to sleep... however, she is falling asleep while nursing... errrrrr. We stopped that long ago.
4. For a while she was waking up every 45-60 minutes for the first 4 hours.
5. She doesn't sleep through the night anymore, not yet. She usually wakes 3 times now, but woke a lot more at the beginning of the transition.
6. When she wakes, she doesn't go right back to sleep, which she always did before... which meant, that I also went right back to sleep. Now it can be 20-30 minutes, and I think that is why, if she wakes at 5 or later, she doesn't go back to sleep. If we are awake more then 10 minutes, it is very hard to go back to sleep.
7. She now has to get up to use the potty in the middle of the night, she never did this before (I guess she just held it all night).
8. Because she is waking more and staying awake longer during those wake-ups, she also has other needs... I need to find my baby, I need water, I need aloe for my bug bites, etc.
9. Long long long long days. Did I say long days? 5:30 am until 7:30 pm on our longest, if I'm lucky, I get a 45 minute break before bedtime. Of course, she is in preschool these days (if she's not sick, which makes the days twice as long), so I don't have too many of these days... but even the days in school, the afternoon is so long, because that is the tired part of the day.
10. Juna and I can be cranky, moody and impatient in the afternoons, without a nap. She can also be whiny.
11. We have eliminated one nursing. Yay. But she still wants to nurse all the time. And now, we nurse so so long in the morning, so I can keep her in bed until 6 or 6:30.
12. We have to go out and do something in the afternoons, or we get tired and cranky. It's hard to come up with things to do. It's hard not to spend money to do things. There aren't as many friends hanging out in the afternoons.
And then there are the changes for me...
Raw
4:00 am (approximate times)
A coughing jag woke you.
4:10 am
I gave you some cough medicine right away, experience has taught me not to wait and see. It was a new cough medicine, and it didn't work great.
4:30 am
Still coughing. Nursing. I gave you another small dose and sat up with you in my lap, nursing, so your congestion could drain.
4:40 am
Coughing subsided. Laid back down. Coughing continued. Tried and tried to go to sleep.
5:00 am
Wrapped you in your blankie, walked to living room and rocked in grandma's rocking chair. Still coughing. Sang 10 rounds of Frere Jacques. Imagined my grandmother rocking my father back to sleep in the middle of the night, in this very chair. Coughing subsided but you didn't fall asleep.
5:30 am
Back in bed. Tried and tried to go back to sleep. My first breakdown.
5:45 am
My second breakdown.
6:00 am
Told you I could not nurse anymore. I give you my hand to hold instead. You said you wanted to nurse over and over again. You got upset. Tried again to go to sleep. Couldn't. Wanted to nurse again. Repeat. Repeat.
6:15 am
My third breakdown.
6:30 am
Nursing again. You fell asleep. I got up to message our friends that we wouldn't be available today.
6:45 am
I fell asleep.
7:30 am
You woke up. You said, "Damn it. I have a hair in my mouth." What? I tried to casually figure out where you had gotten this word. Had I said it at some point during the torturous night?
7:45 am
We got out of bed. You are in a fine mood and I look and feel like I've been run over by a truck.
A coughing jag woke you.
4:10 am
I gave you some cough medicine right away, experience has taught me not to wait and see. It was a new cough medicine, and it didn't work great.
4:30 am
Still coughing. Nursing. I gave you another small dose and sat up with you in my lap, nursing, so your congestion could drain.
4:40 am
Coughing subsided. Laid back down. Coughing continued. Tried and tried to go to sleep.
5:00 am
Wrapped you in your blankie, walked to living room and rocked in grandma's rocking chair. Still coughing. Sang 10 rounds of Frere Jacques. Imagined my grandmother rocking my father back to sleep in the middle of the night, in this very chair. Coughing subsided but you didn't fall asleep.
5:30 am
Back in bed. Tried and tried to go back to sleep. My first breakdown.
5:45 am
My second breakdown.
6:00 am
Told you I could not nurse anymore. I give you my hand to hold instead. You said you wanted to nurse over and over again. You got upset. Tried again to go to sleep. Couldn't. Wanted to nurse again. Repeat. Repeat.
6:15 am
My third breakdown.
6:30 am
Nursing again. You fell asleep. I got up to message our friends that we wouldn't be available today.
6:45 am
I fell asleep.
7:30 am
You woke up. You said, "Damn it. I have a hair in my mouth." What? I tried to casually figure out where you had gotten this word. Had I said it at some point during the torturous night?
7:45 am
We got out of bed. You are in a fine mood and I look and feel like I've been run over by a truck.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
The First Day Of Preschool
Oh, how you grow
and only the heart knows
how bitterly-sweet it is.
only yesterday it seems
you were a baby
and how I dreamed
of what you would be
at three,
now here you are
with your beautiful
smile
telling me
that you are ready
while you let go
even while you still
cling to me
and I
hug you close
while I open
my arms
to let you go
only the heart knows
how hard it is
and how each letting go
takes a piece of me
even while it fills me
with a greater joy
then I have felt before
for you will grow and grow
and you will continue to go
and I will throw out
the safety net
whenever you need
to come back to me again
and only the heart knows
how bitterly-sweet it is.
only yesterday it seems
you were a baby
and how I dreamed
of what you would be
at three,
now here you are
with your beautiful
smile
telling me
that you are ready
while you let go
even while you still
cling to me
and I
hug you close
while I open
my arms
to let you go
only the heart knows
how hard it is
and how each letting go
takes a piece of me
even while it fills me
with a greater joy
then I have felt before
for you will grow and grow
and you will continue to go
and I will throw out
the safety net
whenever you need
to come back to me again
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
My Favorite Juna Words, Age 2-3
A running list of words that make me smile, laugh, or surprise me the first time I hear them:
bullsdover
old/bad/dead (interchangeable) (the sticker is dead when it doesn't stick anymore)
Ramstutin
lovely
amazing
incredible
wonderful
knick-knack sand (magnetic)
gampa & gamma
polite (taking care of someone well)
don't matter, don't bother ("I don't matter." meaning, I don't care, it doesn't bother me)
I promise
tareful (careful)
Otay
aprised (surprised)
cited (excitied or decided)
cada (cicada)
chiminey
noculars
tool (cool)
interesing
sunscream
invesigating
toot (cute)
bullsdover
old/bad/dead (interchangeable) (the sticker is dead when it doesn't stick anymore)
Ramstutin
lovely
amazing
incredible
wonderful
knick-knack sand (magnetic)
gampa & gamma
polite (taking care of someone well)
don't matter, don't bother ("I don't matter." meaning, I don't care, it doesn't bother me)
I promise
tareful (careful)
Otay
aprised (surprised)
cited (excitied or decided)
cada (cicada)
chiminey
noculars
tool (cool)
interesing
sunscream
invesigating
toot (cute)
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Big Love
Does a mother's love just grow and grow
like a hot air balloon being filled
then traveling to where ever it goes?
Over vast lands of amazement
like my baby's head down to her toes?
Watching you grow is like
the best ride at the amusement park,
the sound of crickets in the night air,
snow falling on my nose,
never-ending musical chairs,
a walk in the park on the perfect sunny day,
the sound of soft rain, or the crash bang
of far away thunder... I wonder
does a mother's love just grow and grow
bigger than the biggest and higher than the highest?
like a hot air balloon being filled
then traveling to where ever it goes?
Over vast lands of amazement
like my baby's head down to her toes?
Watching you grow is like
the best ride at the amusement park,
the sound of crickets in the night air,
snow falling on my nose,
never-ending musical chairs,
a walk in the park on the perfect sunny day,
the sound of soft rain, or the crash bang
of far away thunder... I wonder
does a mother's love just grow and grow
bigger than the biggest and higher than the highest?
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