Yawn

Just....so stinkin' bone weary tired, I am.  I just feel dull and blunted.

Caroline is 2 weeks old today.  I took her in for her two week checkup today, and she was 6 lbs 14 oz.  She is still sleeping a LOT, just like Layla did at this age.

It had freaked me out, when Layla was a baby, how much she slept those first two weeks, but she was fine, and so I'm just enjoying the additional rest I get from it at the moment.  She goes at least 4 hours between feedings at night - I generally wake her up to feed at about every 4 hours.

The main problem in regards to sleeping has been Layla.  She got sick Tuesday the 15th with really bad croup, and ended up at the doctor two days in a row, and on prednisolone and then the bigger deal of a Decadron shot the second day...and steroids plus a two year old equals wide wide eyes.  SOOOOO cranky and sleep disrupted...not to mention already adjusting to the new baby in the house on top of that, and things just being a little different.

I was SUPER paranoid that Caroline was going to get what Layla had, and was OBSESSIVE about hand-washing and arm-washing and even washing my neck where they would lay their heads and changing my shirts between holding the two of them.  But, in the thick of it, it felt almost IMPOSSIBLE to avoid getting what your two-year-old, needy, clingy, affectionate, cuddly, snotty, sneezy, coughy toddler has in terms of a cold, because your likelihood of staying out of germ range seems to be zilch. THANKFULLY, Caroline didn't get it, and neither did I.  But what I also didn't get was much sleep at all that first week, since with all of the baby adjustments, Layla would only accept MOMMY!!!! to get her back to sleep.  Saturday the 19th, the last night Mom was here, I was up 4 times with Caroline, 4 times with Layla (and each time it took FOREVER to get her little wired self back to sleep), once with Zion, and once with Israel.  And this was after more than a week with very very interrupted sleep already.  I was like a zombie on Sunday, and just sort of sat.

And even though sleep the past few nights has been better...it's just taking a while to catch up.  And then the days have been grey when I wake up, and...I'm just so tired.  :)  Anyone hearing a theme, here??

I am INCREDIBLY grateful for a mom who stayed over a week to help out, friends who are bringing meals every day of this second week, and a husband who does a great job of helping out.  Sleeplessnesss plus five children is just a lot of work, ya'll.  DEFINITELY in survival stage we still are, particularly because of the unanticipated layers of sickness, etc.  I am SO ready for a well-rested stage and energy and routine.  And this too shall pass and that too shall come...until it leaves again for sickness/etc. and I'll survive.  :)

Meanwhile, we slowly adjust.

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I get the biggest kick out of seeing how the kids spell things.  These were two spellings on the computer lately by Israel:

"wut kine uf tree leafs" (What kind of tree leaves - he was trying to figure out the kinds of leaves he had collected on a walk because he was making a leaf book.)

"pea b s kiss" (PBS Kids - computer games)

The other night, Tim had teasingly threatened the boys with being tackled in the morning if they didn't hurry up and get into bed.  They all screeched with delight and begged to be tackled.   I found this note propped up on an empty clothes basket outside of the boys room the other night after getting Layla to sleep while Tim had held Caroline.  I LOVED it.  :)

"From Gabe:  Tackle me to dad in the morning tackle Gabe, Isriel, and Zoin.  This is for real"

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I was curious how this "Layla getting to sleep" thing was going to go once Caroline arrived, because up to this point I have been Layla's "security blanket".  She snuggles right up to me, nose almost pressed to my arm, or puts her hand out to ensure that I'm there, before she can drift off.

The week before Caroline was born, she switched from taking 15 minutes to get to sleep to taking 45 minutes to an hour to get to sleep, AND waking up several times during the night and taking a long time time to get back to sleep ...that's just not tolerable, especially with the addition of Caroline in the mix.  I hadn't wanted to do sleep-training with her right at the same time that Caroline was born - it seemed like too many discomfiting changes at once, but she has almost forced the issue. :)

Last night I took her in to her room, let her shut the door (part of her routine), then we left the light on and read three books, which she really enjoyed.  Then I told her again what we were going to do, and that she was going to learn to go to sleep like a big girl, and that she could earn a big girl prize in the morning, and I carried her to turn off her light, and then tucked her into her bed.  I gave her a few big hugs and kisses and was very affectionate with her, then told her I would come back to check on her in 5 minutes.

I checked on her every 5 minutes for about 3 times, then 10 minutes, then 15, and by then she was asleep.  She cried, but not too hard, and eventually asked for her giraffe to hold.  I was hoping that she would use some external means of comfort, ie. a stuffed animal or blanket, that could eventually be my replacement.

She woke up once during the night and went immediately back to sleep after I laid down with her (vs. it taking 30 minutes or so).  This morning I gave her a Dora plate that I had picked up at Goodwill one day, and she was delighted.

Hopefully tonight will go as well as that.

Here she was the other day when I went to check on her after realizing that she was being very very quiet and busy.  That's what the lure of sand in a bowl, with soap and Stryrofoam bits will do to a girl.  Keep her very very interested and stirring for a long long long time.  ;)

Our neighbor Barry gave us a box of canned items before the baby was born.  I found Zion and Layla arranging Layla in the box, much to her delight. :)