the System

Since we have been having multiple defcon 4 nuclear meltdowns on a daily basis, we decided that it was time for a System. Yes, with a capital S. At first, I thought that I would buy a reward chart at the dollar store. Then, I started looking at printables. Finally, I realized that it would be easiest to just design my own and then laminate it using our handy-dandy home laminator. Yes, the one that Jason bought and I said we'd never use.

Basically, Nathan will start the day with 10 dinosaurs. If there's a problem, we will X out one of the dinosaurs. At the bottom, the rewards are shown. I decided to do it this way (lose dinosaurs rather than earn one) because he is still a little too young for the concept of "DON'T have a tantrum and you will GET something." Better to say "hold it together, or you will lose a dinosaur for today!"

Depending on how many dinos he ends up with, he can earn videos (watching a youtube video of crocodiles, volcanoes, whatever) and he can earn tokens, which we will probably have to use pirate money for. From there, it's a straightforward token economy system. Once a week, he will get to go shopping in our "store" for prizes. I like that it also teaches the value of money and saving vs. spending. Also, using the token system will allow us to throw in unexpected "bonus tokens" when he's having a really good day.

Somehow, in researching reward systems I ended up down the Pinterest rabbit hole and so also found and then made a few cool daily schedule placemats. I'm hoping that these reminders will keep both Nathan in some sense of structure and me on top of my mental "to-do" list for us for the day. I EVEN thought (yes, I know this is possibly a bit over the top) that I could eventually, once I start school, prewrite the placemats to make each day's routine ready to go in front of us. 

Lastly, I thought I would make one of these seemingly handy gadgets. 

So here's what I ended up with:

Reward Chart:

Placemats:

Prizes: 

A lot of these are things I'd already planned to give him, but was just saving for a rainy day. Is that wrong, do you think? A few, admittedly, are Christmas presents that I had saved because we were just on present overload. 

Report coming next week on whether this System works...

Noah says: just kidding!

He really didn't get the memo after all. The past two nights have been B-A-D. He has been waking up at least every three hours and refuses to go back to sleep unless I feed him. I tried feeding him just a little bit in case it was just out of habit, but then he wakes up just 30-45 minutes later to eat again. I really am at a loss now. I'm exhausted.

Yesterday was one of those days where I would have been happy for school to start immediately. Noah was fine (he always is, during the daytime), but the lingering effects of sleeplessness don't help my patience level with Nathan. Yesterday was just a whole collection of things. He woke up at 6:30 (he knows he's not allowed up until 7) and came into our bed; Jason told him he could stay if he was quiet. He wasn't quiet, but didn't want to go back to his own bed. Then he wanted a toy, I told him okay but pick a quiet one, so what did he choose? His "clacker" and his riding motorcycle. Really?? Up next is his maddening habit of saying "huh," "what," or "what'd you say" to EVERYTHING. It's so frustrating because I know he hears us, he just isn't listening. But if I refuse to repeat what I just said, he just looks at me blankly. If I tell him it's not funny, he says "I'm a clownfish!" Sigh. Then there were the multiple nuclear meltdowns over absolutely nothing that prevented us from doing pretty much anything constructive (I did, as I mentioned on Facebook, manage to vacuum the floors to a spotless condition). After 90 minutes of fighting him on naptime, he FINALLY went to sleep, right before Jason got home.

Despite all this, I really tried to close my eyes, breathe deeply, and be thankful for the time at home with the boys.

Here's to a better day today.

he got the memo

Noah apparently got the memo, because last night he at at 10 and then held out till 4 and 7 a.m. (I had to give him his paci at 2 and 3, but not feed him). I feel fantastic and well-rested today, and am holding out hope that somehow my rant and putting my feelings out there caused a shift in the universe and now Noah will sleep through the night!

My kid eats like clockwork

Which would be great, and actually pretty convenient, if "clockwork" didn't mean every 3 hours at night. ARGH. Of course, before having a newborn again, I knew there would be some rough times ahead. I knew there would be several months of getting up every few hours. And I was okay with it. When Noah arrived, it turned out that he slept great for a newborn, up to 5 hours at a stretch sometimes. No more.

Most of the time, he is up at 12, 3, and 6, or some variation on that theme. We have tried several different things:
- "dreamfeed" him at 11 p.m. to try to catch a 5-6 hour stretch, doesn't work
- formula feed for last feed of night, doesn't work
- cry it out when we wakes up, doesn't work (more like I can't take it after 10 minutes or so, so I feed him)

Today, I started working on better sleep hygiene in general, and also started keeping track of naps and meals. By sleep hygiene, I mean that he took all of his naps in his crib rather than the swing, and I put him down awake but tired. The average for today (daytime) was 2.5 hrs between feeds and 2 hrs between naps. WTH, I have a 5 month old, not a newborn! Every 2.5 hrs during the day and every 3 at night, no wonder I'm exhausted! So, as you can you tell, I'm a little frustrated and out of ideas. I'm not asking for him to sleep 12 hours straight, just maybe a 5 or 6 hour stretch. On the *few* nights that he's only gotten up at 4 a.m., I feel fabulous the next day. My ultimate goal is to have him sleeping through the night before school starts in May, but I REALLY would love to see some progress by then.

OK, /end rant.

January update

Well, we might just be a tad overdue for a post, do you think?

With the holidays behind us, things are finally starting to settle down. Here's a rundown of what's been going on:

Christmas/Hanukkah- lots of family time, lots and lots of presents, lots of reading the Grinch book. The holiday season culminated in the great meltdown of 2011, in which Nathan became hysterical because santa brought him a new couch and put his old one away. Go figure.

Noah- we have just in the past week started giving him solids (cereal and sweet potato) and, drumroll, he FINALLY rolled over, 1 day before his 5 month birthday. He's starting to be able to sit up on his own for a few seconds unassisted, and has taken to trying to sit up in his swing, which may mean his swinging days are numbered. No, he's not sleeping through the night. Boo. He sometimes sleeps until 4 a.m., which is tolerable, but most nights he's up at 1 a.m. and again at 4 a.m.

Nathan's school- Nathan just finished his second week of school and is loving it. He does lots of "lessons" which include puzzles, artwork, and more. Unfortunately he has a bully in his class, I am waiting to see if things improve before interfering. Also, Nathan tends to be oversensitive and I don't want to encourage that by being hyper-responsive. 

As for me, I'm somehow 1 pound away from my pre-pregnancy weight, despite many holiday transgressions. I managed to fit into most of my old jeans just in time for the recent cold weather. I don't know how either of these things are possible, since my body doesn't look ANYTHING like it did before. Lots of work still to be done, hopefully with time there will be improvement. No, you don't get a picture for this paragraph :)

That's about it, I'm counting the days to our cruise (41!!!) and hoping that Nathan naps just a little bit longer today so that I can relax for a minute :)