Thursday, November 12, 2009

Random bits about my life

...So I've had a rough couple of nights with the baby. I'm not sure what's up, he's just waking up several times a night and I'm not used to it because he was such a good sleeper before. Nothing to worry about, he isn't sick or anything - just wakeful. Last night he was up at least 3x between bedtime and 11pm, then he was up from 12:30 am to 1:30 am, then up from 3:30 am to 4:30 am, then again around 6am. And I don't mean happy awake - he was screaming and clearly unhappy about something. I'm contemplating some sort of "sleep training" right now, although most of the methods seem to be based on at least some form of "cry it out" - which just breaks my heart. But everything I have read suggests that sleep training can help him nap better AND sleep through the night AND stop feeding at night when he might not really need to eat. Sigh! I don't know what to do. L still uses his soother for naps and bedtime, plus often I have to do at least a partial swaddle so he doesn't rub his face until he wakes up. (And he has to wear socks on his hands so he can't scratch. Poor kid! Such humiliation.) Most sleep training methods want you to get rid of the soother and the swaddle. Bah. I much prefer the lackadaisical, kids-will-be-kids method of parenting. It requires so much less work. But I have to return to work in a few months and I need to be functional during my long commute and workday. Pray for me!

On another note I was reading today about kids who have just discovered that Santa Claus doesn't really exist. Have I blogged about this already? I am too lazy to search my archives. Anyway, the hubs and I had a conversation about this, whether we would let the kid believe in Santa or not. I was pretty adamant on NO since I think the whole idea of Santa is ridiculous and trite. However, I also don't want my kid to be the one telling all the other kids that Santa is just made up. I never believed in Santa growing up.

You know, I also can only recall one occasion of dressing up for Halloween and going trick-or-treating. I was young, maybe about 4, and I dressed up as Yoda from Star Wars. I recall some sort of costume that looked like a garbage bag. I also recall tripping and ripping a hole in said costume. I don't think we ever really went out again, and I remember my mom saying that Christians don't believe in Halloween, so we shouldn't "celebrate" it. I don't feel like I missed out on anything, but I wonder if my kid will feel left out if he doesn't get to dress up, etc. I don't think I have much of an opinion on Halloween at this stage of my life, though. I've never been to a Halloween party and my favourite part of the whole holiday is the day after, when candy is on sale. This year, we bought the baby a dinosaur costume. I should say, the hubby bought it. I am far too practical to buy things like that.

Ummm.... hmm. Oh yes, the dog turned two years old this past week! She's such a good dog. One of the nice things about going back to work is that she'll get to come with me again. That'll be nice. We thought about getting a second dog, but we might wait until she's a couple of years older, so she will be a little more calm. Every family should have a dog, they are awesome.

I'm making dinner tonight - that'll be an adventure. Let us hope no one gets sick and the food is tasty. I am trying to be a more tidy and clean person, like my mother, but I don't think I'll ever reach that level of cleanliness. How she gets everything done, I'll never know. Yesterday I vacuumed and mopped the floor and that felt like an accomplishment. Anyway, I'm starting off small, by committing to cleaning up the kitchen before bed every night. You're probably horrified, aren't you, after all, who leaves dishes in the sink overnight? Me, that's who. But no more!