Category: sleep

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Caris Out of the Crib (And out of bed)

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Yesterday, Caris got started in her big girl bed.  No more crib for you, Caris.  We probably didn’t pick the best of nights to get her into a regular bed, since they were also adjusting to daylight saving time as well this weekend.  But we’ve procrastinated too long, and I had time to convert her bed in the afternoon.

Caleb and Caris are so different.  I was reading back at an old post of Caleb first getting into his big boy bed, and their responses have been much different.  Of course Caris has had the benefit of watching Caleb get into his bed for a few months, so that helps.

The first night did not go so well.  It wasn’t horrible, but it was good either.  We put the kids down around 8pm, which is technically an hour earlier than normal based on standard time.  We figured they would take a while to go to sleep, but not as long as they actually took.  After multiple times of telling them to stop playing and go to sleep, they finally fell asleep at 10:40pm, over two and a half hours after we put them to bed.

Once asleep, Caris did well. But anything the doesn’t involve her falling out of bed I would consider doing well.  She got over the falling out of bed quickly though, for tonight she did it.  We’re about to eat dinner downstairs, and we hear a big thump.  Originally we though it was Caleb knocking down the gate like he down earlier in the night, but nope, it was Caris falling out of bed.

We run upstairs and hear her crying. Caleb fesses up.

Caleb:  Caris fell out of bed.  We were talking and laughing, and she fell out of bed.

I’m glad Caleb is so willing to tell us what happened now.  I hope it stays that way.

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Cold Weather & Our Camping Trip

It is currently 42 degrees outside our house. Tonight’s overnight low is suppose to be 38 degrees. This is what I would call beyond cold. But at least we’re inside our warmer house. 67 degrees is nice for me, but still bundle up weather for Yvonne. We haven’t been in this type of cold since… well… since our camping trip in October.

The thing about our camping trip though is that we were sleeping in tents where the cold didn’t want to stay outside. The overnight low was 45 degrees, which meant it was 45 degrees in our tent. Let’s just say that our children weren’t used to the temperature with their year round temperature controlled house. In fact the thermostat is in Caleb’s room so he’s always sleeping in perfect temperature.

Our tent… not the place for perfect temperature. Look at this thermometer.
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That’s a low of 45 in our tent.  And a high of 115!

We got to Santa Margarita Lake campground on Friday.  Lacking the perfect temperature Caleb was used to, he got very little sleep that first night.  He kept tossing and turning.  And talking and moving.  So much so that he only got just over 3 hours of sleep that night.  45 degrees might be a little to cold for a boy who’s used to perfect temperature in his room.  Caris didn’t sleep well either, but she just slept on me the whole keep and I kept her warm.  Here’s how they looked in the morning.

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Caleb was not in a good mood that morning.  We hoped he would get a good nap at least in the afternoon.  Not quite.  With the sun blazing down upon our tent, the temperatures soared inside.  Again Caleb normally sleeps in that perfect temperature room with barely any light.  Here at camp, he had the bright sun shining on top, heating up the tent.  After 40 minutes of sleep, he awakes to the bright lights and hot tent.  The temperature is about 90 degrees.  Good thing he woke up.  He might have died in the 115 degree tent.

We had thought we dressed our children warmly the first night, but these kids don’t know what cold really was.  And neither did we.  To combat the immense chill of the night, we decided dress our children in every single warm piece of clothing we had.  Both of them must have at least 8 layers on them.  Rebecca Chan can attest to that.

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It doesn’t seem like a lot, but I think he was sweating under those clothes.  Maybe he’s warm enough, and maybe he’s gotten comfortable with our tent.  But finally he sleeps.

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Caris is still cold, but she loves Daddy holding her and keeping her warm.  Caleb gets a good night sleep, and they look much better in the morning.

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Notes for next camping trip:

  • Find someplace close
  • Find someplace not freezing
  • Find someplace not scorching
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Caris Sleeping in Her Carseat

I was driving to a nearby park to take Caleb out to play.  I knew Caris was tired.  From the driver’s seat, I saw her head slumped forward.  I thought she was playing, trying to reach a toy in front of her.  Then I stopped at a light, Caris’ head fell back, and I saw that she was asleep.  But she’s so big now, she doesn’t fit easily into her head rest/support.  We still used it, though, cuz it looks like she’s comfy in it.  But once she pulls her head out of it, it’s hard for her to fit her head back into it.  Mommy has now removed the head rest so Caris’ head can flop anywhere it wants.

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Caleb in his new bed

Caleb has done really well in his big boy bed.  He still doesn’t just lay in bed waiting to get tucked in at night (like what you see of kids in the illustrations of bedtime books).  We have to leave, he has to get upset, and then he gets into bed on his own.  Tonight, he didn’t cry or fuss getting into bed.  Yay!  That was a nice present for me since Chris was busy running a youth missions night at church.

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Caleb…. where he’s not supposed to be…. in Caris’ bassinet (the one that Caris has outgrown and we haven’t had the time to take apart to store).

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Big Boy Bed

Caleb’s officially in a big boy bed!  We’ve kept the door to his crib (yes, his crib had a door in the gate) open for the past 3.5 weeks since Caleb fell on his face climbing out of his crib and announced that he was scared.  He’s done really well so far for his nap and bedtime.  He hasn’t even fallen out of the bed yet… and he keeps readjusting himself so that his head is on the pillow.  Very cute.  He’s still says he’s scared.  We have to have a night light on and keep his door open.  But at least he’s sleeping. 

Pray that this transition goes well! 

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Sigh of Relief

Unlike her brother, Caris has liked being swaddled.  So, we swaddled her.  About a week ago, she started breaking through the swaddle… first with just her left arm, then with both arms.  Sometimes, she could only get a hand out (versus her whole arm).  I noticed she was starting to get angry when her arm-freeing attempts failed.  So, the smart mom I am figured it must be time to unswaddle Caris.  That’s what I did 2 nights ago.  One sleepless night later along with the multiple early night awakenings tonight prompted my much smarter hubby to look online for ideas to help newly unswaddled babies sleep.  He learned that cold turkey unswaddling is not a good idea.  Way to go, Mommy…. Take away your daughter’s sleep association. 

Caris just woke up again.  This time, I went in and swaddled her back up with just her left arm out.  She settled immediately.  I put her in the crib.  She started to fight for about 2 seconds, and then she sighed…  not a sigh of frustration due to loss of freedom, but of relief… finally.  She was asleep before I could step away from the crib. 

I guess that means we need to take the 2+ weeks people recommend for getting our daughter used to being unswaddled.  And I thought we could do it overnight. 

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Caris turns 5 months!

Yay, Caris…  You’re 5 months old.  You need to tell big brother Caleb that his crib is not scary… nor are bugs/bees, dogs, bees, fans/air conditioners, fake gravel, mud, etc, etc.  Once Caleb stops screaming every hour or so, I think you’ll start napping/sleeping better again.  I hope so at least.  This mommy loves her sleep.  Sleep lots, little 5-month old!

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Caris’ Stats

Caris had her 4 month doctors appointment this morning.  She got heaps of shots and the oral rotavirus vaccine.  Hope she doesn’t get a high fever like Caleb did at his 4 month vaccines. 

Length – 26 inches (95-97th percentile)

Weight – 15 pounds, 14.5oz (90th percentile)

Head Circumference – 40.5 inches (45th percentile)

 

So, when we weighed Caris, I was all disappointed… thinking my daughter doesn’t weigh very much.  Her brother was 17 pounds, 7 oz at his 4 month appointment.  Then the doctor tells me that she’s 90th percentile in weight for girls.  So, I guess I don’t have to worry about Caris being too small. 

No teeth yet for Caris.  And she’s almost there with rolling.  She’s only done it once so far…  I think it was a total accident that she flung her leg all the way over.  She has yet to make that mistake again.  Caris is really good at the back scoot, though.  She can get pretty far on her back, just by using her legs to propel her while in a supine position.  She’s great at grabbing things now.  Really likes using her hands.

 

 

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(I love my spit cloths.  And yes, I can breathe.)

 

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(Daddy’s getting me dressed.)

 

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(I still have a double chin!)

 

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(I’m a chub-meister… and proud of it!)

 

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On the Road Again

We’re out in Louisville, KY!  This was Caris’ first plane flight ever.  She was great on the flight here.  She fed at take off.  And she fell asleep.  And she slept.  And slept and slept some more.  She finally woke up when we landed almost 4 hours later.

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Caleb was good on the plane as well.  He didn’t sleep the 4 hours like Caris did.  But he was good nonetheless.  He only got his 25 minute nap, but he tried to push on.  He had good company with him though to keep him entertained.

He had is pacifier

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He had Leakless

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He had Chick Hicks

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And he had his media player with Cars on it.

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We got our rental car.  A Ford Edge.  Not a bad car.  Caris seems to like it as well.  At least in the front seat.

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We originally booked a suite from the Galt House since they had special convention rates while we were here.  After traveling with Caleb, we found that staying in a suite is so much better than staying in the same room.  So the suite would have been nice, except we didn’t get one. We got an apartment instead.  You read that correctly.  An apartment.  So initially when Yvonne told me they upgraded us for free to an apartment, I was thinking maybe we get an extra room or something.  Something just a little bigger.  Oh gosh.  Check out this video.

The place has 2 furnished bedrooms, and plus another unfurnished room and “work” room.  That’s 4 rooms we have available to us.  We stuck Caleb in one room with no windows.  It looks like a closet.  And could very well be used for a closet.  But it works well nonetheless.  He sleeps well in there.

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Caris on the other hand isn’t so lucky.  We could have stuffed her in the other room, but we only brought one monitor with us.  We were planning on staying in the same room with her so we didn’t think we’d need a monitor for her.  So no separate room for Caris.  Yup.  It’s not Caleb who gets stuck in the closet, but Caris.  It is a big closet by the way.

We have beautiful view of the waterfront.  Caleb likes the boats.  He greatly enjoys looking out there even when his diapers are barely hanging on.

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General Council (C&MA convention) has been going well.  It just started officially tonight.  We’re all still on LA time zone so that means waking up at 10/11 AM and going to sleep at 11PM.  It works out fine until we’re looking for places open for dinner at 10PM.  Or when I have my 7AM Friday morning breakfast.  Or even tomorrow’s 9AM session.  Not going to be easy getting up in the morning. 

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But it might be easy since Caris’ hasn’t been sleeping that well since we got here.  She’s constantly waking up in the middle of the night and taking short naps during the day.  She must know something isn’t right.  And the crib we got is so dang low it’s hard to put her down in.  Every time we lean over to put her down she’s up wide awake!  So we did the only thing we thought we could do.  Go to Walmart and buy her a bassinet and sleep nest.  It seems to work better, but she’s still not sleeping well.  I think tonight has been her best night of sleeping so far, but it’s only been 2 hours.  Keep sleeping, girl!

We did some vacation stuff.  We went to the zoo today.  Caleb liked it a lot.  It definitely seems more entertaining and kid friendly than the LA zoo.  It’s got a water park where Caleb ran around and I got soaked.

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It’s got monkeys (or gorillas if you want to call them that) who pose at you.

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And it’s got none of the exotic animals kids don’t care about.  It’s perfect.

We got Caleb a backpack before the trip so he can help carry stuff.  It’s cute.  He walked funny without it before.  It just gets even more funny.

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Happy Anniversary

OK, so I just read Chris’ post on closet dwelling.  That post came about from a conversation I had with him earlier.  I was the one wondering whether or not our closet in Louisville will be big/deep enough to hold a crib. 

There’s some background to this thinking.  Let me share.

For our anniversary, I took Chris (and Caleb) for a 1-night stay at Paradise Pier Hotel at Disneyland.  We had annual passes to Disneyland and they were about to expire, and we had decided to not renew them.  So, I thought this would be a perfect little anniversary gift.  Plus, they had just re-opened “It’s a Small World” in Disneyland.  I really did consider a suite, but it was a whole lot more money than I was willing to spend.  Sorry Chris.  So, we were in a regular hotel room (meaning we had no extra room for Caleb).  We went on a Sunday night.  We decided not to go early in the day since there’s church in the morning.  We didn’t want to miss service.  But we ended up not getting to the hotel until 4PM or so since some friends decided to take Chris out to a hotdog place in west LA for his birthday (which had been a week or so before this particular Sunday).  So, by the time we checked in, it was already getting late.  Chris makes a decision to keep Caleb up past his normal bedtime so that we can go to Disneyland and see It’s a Small World.  It’s busy there that day.  Some 1000+ member chorus was there with John Stamos narrating the Christmas story.  It’s a Small World is really busy.  We ended up not going on the ride.  Caleb didn’t do so well staying up late.  We missed dinner in order to try to get to the ride.  Big mistake.  By the time we got back to the hotel and got fussy, overtired Caleb down to sleep, most restaurants were closed.  Chris walks to the Rainforest Cafe to get us food at 10PM.  he gets back.  Oh where are we to eat?  Most normal people would eat in their hotel room, right?  Not us.  Not when we have our light sleeper son in the crib next to our dresser.  No way are we waking him up.  Now, we didn’t just forget that we had a light sleeper son.  We did try to plan this out.  There was this huge closet in the room.  But not huge enough.  We almost put Caleb in the closet, but we couldn’t since the crib didn’t fit.  So our boy is in our room.  No lights, no TV, no eating dinner in the room.  Argh.  So, what do we do with our Rainforest Cafe to-go anniversary dinner?  What any normal married couple would do…. We ate it sitting on the floor outside our hotel room.  Yup. 

The positive of all this is that Caleb slept until 7AM or so the next day without waking.  Yay.  And, the hotel staff actually surprised us by decorating our bed for our anniversary. 

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