Milestones

Matthew and I were going upstairs to check on some things on the computer. As we started up the stairs he squatted and started grunting. This is his signature sign that something is going on in his diaper. For a few weeks Jason and I have been commenting that Matthew seems to be showing signs of potty training readiness: dry at night and naps, interest in the toilet, obvious signs of "going", and so on. However, he's only 18 months, clearly too little to start, right? Well, maybe not. I checked Matthew's diaper before going up the stairs and there was nothing. I started working on the computer (downloading white noise sounds, which I'll discuss later...) and then Matthew said, "poop" and climbed onto the toilet in our bathroom. He didn't make it very well, though, as one foot/leg ended up in the toilet and got all wet. I pulled him off the toilet, took off his dirty clothes and diaper and held him on the toilet. Matthew made a few noises, then I pulled him off and said we'd try later. He was very insistent, though, and kept on saying "poop." So we went downstairs, to the garage and got out the turtle potty. I put it in the bathroom, then Matthew sat on it awhile (no results), carried it over by the baby's pack and play, into the pantry and back into the bathroom. More sitting (no results). I put a diaper on and we had lunch, then again, he started with the "Poop" and was much more insistent about it. Again, stripped, again, more sitting and...he went both #1 and #2! I proudly gave him a high five and he washed his hands and hair at the sink and thus begins our journey into potty training with Matthew. Now, potty training Matthew is not really on my agenda right now, but if he's into it, who's to stop him?

Milestone #2 involves Abby. Now, Abby is a mystery in terms of getting her to calm down and sleep. As I've mentioned, at least for Sam, we found out that he likes pacifiers and swings. That was our ticket to 3 or  4 uninterrupted hours of sleep from the point he turned two weeks old on. Matthew wasn't so easy, he'd sleep for a few hours and liked the bouncy seat, and he would take a pacifier, but there wasn't much of an "easy ticket" for him. With Abby, it's been tough because she doesn't fall asleep while nursing, doesn't like a pacifier, gets overstimulated and overtired, doesn't like the swing or being bounced in the bouncy seat, hmmmmm. The only thing that's been working is holding her. Now, we love our little angel, but holding her for all her sleeping hours just wasn't practical for us and with Jason going back to work soon, we clearly had to find another way. So I tried loud white noise. Very loud. As in the vacuum cleaner right beside the pack and play where she was napping. As in vacuum on for and hour and a half. And she napped. She stirred at least two or three times but went back to sleep. I don't know if it's a clear breakthrough, but it's something. Knowing that running the vacuum for all her naps and night sleeping wasn't practical, I went to that wonderful online store called "Amazon." Typed in "white noise" and out came all sorts of options: vacuum noise CDs, dishwasher noise CDs, hairdryer noise CDs, mixed white noise CDs, heartbeat/womb noises, car noises, and on and on and on. I selected a CD that was also available for MP3 download (i.e. I could use it immediately) and it had a mix of 8 white noises.

So when Abby started getting tired this afternoon, I swaddled her and rocked her in her room while track 7 (vacuum) played loudly on her CD player. She was almost asleep, then I put her in her crib and patted a few times, and left. For the next 10 minutes or so, I could hear her making little fusses every so often, but then silence! She was asleep! And she wasn't being held and she was in her own bed! I cried (seriously, I cry very easily when I've been up since 3:30 AM for three nights in a row). It's been about an hour now and she's starting to stir, but oh, it gives me some hope of better nights! How I love my children, but how I love it when they nap too.