Sleep, oh how I miss you...

It has been decided that the adults in this house are past exhausted. Not sure what the word for that would be for that, but we are it. I think my last good night of sleep was probably sometime in my 2nd trimester. So, lets just say maybe September or early October. I don't think many pregnant women sleep good and I know families with a demanding newborn don't sleep well. But, do know there are people with a 3-month  old that are getting full night's sleep, but we are not a part of that group. I know one of the first rules of having more than one  child is that you should not compare them. I get it. But, we were so blessed to have a fantastic sleeper in Aubrey so facing the cruel reality that Mason is just not as good of a sleeper has been so harsh. We finally decided to stop swaddling him last week because even after buying a bigger swaddle, he would escape from it and be pissed he couldn't reach his full hand in the middle of the night. Plus, he was spending most of the night asleep in the bouncy seat in our room and that was not helping me sleep well. The first night of no swaddle was absolute hell because he kept waking himself up and wanting his paci. I must have gone in his room at least 10-12 times that night to return the paci and help soothe him back to sleep. Then, he woke up at 4 insisting to eat. The past few weeks he had been sleeping until 5:30 or 6 in the morning so upping this time was another shock. The 2nd night of no swaddle was a bit better because I only had to go in twice to replace the paci and soothe him on top of a 4 AM bottle. The past 2 nights have been back to the crapper and he has woken us up multiple times throughout the night. And naps aren't going much better either since I am not letting him sleep in the swing or bouncy anymore. So we are all pretty miserable. We are not ready for sleep training just yet because he is still too young. We really are at a loss on how to make this better so we continue to stumble through the exhaustion and hope there is a better night in the future.

3-months old

Another month gone by. We are starting to hit some exciting milestones and it has been so much fun. I am not a super big fan of the early newborn months when babies just eat and sleep. But, I love when they start showing their personalities and getting interested in the world. It is so much fun to watch him learn and see things for the first time. It is also neat to have Aubrey watching him do things and reminisce about her being that age.

Here are this month's milestones:
*Moved to 5 oz milk
*Has set a pretty good schedule for himself. 2 45 minute naps in the AM and 1 2 hour nap in the PM. Bedtime is 7:00 PM and we better not forget it!
*Trying so hard to laugh
*First time sleeping through the night Thursday March 22 (11p-7a). Unfortunately, it doesn't happen often.
*Mostly waking up at night for cuddles now. He refuses to stay asleep in his bed once he wakes up in the middle of the night. But, put him in the bed with us and he's usually back to sleep in minutes.
*Could start using pocket diapers
*Making tummy time progress, especially with the boppy
*Holding head up well
*Tried to unsaddle which was a big, fat fail. He still fights it though and gets his arm out whenever he can
*First Easter
*Showing interest in his playmat and car seat toy.
*We are suspecting a soy intolerance to go with his daily intolerance, so I have eliminated soy from my diet to see if it helps improve things.
*Using our very unscientific method of weighing me holding him and then weighing myself, he weighs between 11.5 and 12 lbs. He is 23 inches long. He's still a tiny little peanut, but growing more everyday.

I was trying to get him to smile and he stuck his tongue out instead. Little ham already!

Doing tummy time with the boppy

Easter

Easter was a lot of fun for us this year. Aubrey was finally able to understand the Easter bunny, baskets, and even part of the Easter story (very, very simplified for a 3-year old's sensitivity.) She enjoyed tearing into her basket and showing us her treats, especially the candy. She also loved playing with Mason's toys that he obviously had no interest in this year. That afternoon we did family pictures at Todd's parents and she got to have an Easter egg hunt in their backyard, which she really enjoyed. We did have a bit of a tough time after dinner with his parents because neither kiddo had a great nap. But, all in all it was a good Easter and I look forward to next year when Mason can help Aubrey tear into the treats as well.

I had to do this with Mason since I made Aubrey do the same thing as a baby.

 I love it, even if she was looking at everyone but me.

Not the most creative picture, but its really hard to do much with a 3-month old.

Whoever coined the term "Terrible Twos"...

...obviously never met a 3-year old. I was warned that the 3rd year was worse than the 2nd, but I had no clue what that meant until recently. Aubrey was pretty easy as a 2-year old. Sure, we had our fair share of tantrums and crazy days, but considering the changes Aubrey went through with stopping daycare, staying home with my mom, and then Mason's arrival, I'd say she handled things well. She loves being home with me and being with my mom and she is crazy about her little brother, all things I worried about early on. I thought after she handled those things so well, maybe we'd be ok through the 3's. I don't know why I thought that, but man was I ever wrong. The terrible 3's have hit us with full force. We have multiple daily tantrums, severe attitude and talking back, refusal to eat and super pickiness, and complete nap strike. And that's on a good day. We do have some good days or times of the day from time-to-time, but they are getting more and more rare. When she is on good behavior, she is the sweetest, most compliant, happiest child ever. But, when that attitude sparks, its like a different child. And the worst part is my usual disciplinary tricks have lost their effectiveness. It used to be that I only had to threaten a no tv or time out for behaviors to change. I have had to actually use those consequences and more to see slight change and she usually goes right back to the bad behavior. I know she is just testing her limits and boundaries, blah, blah, blah but it is such a challenge when you are a sleep deprived parent also dealing with a fussy baby on top of it. We keep telling ourselves this is just a phase and it will pass but it is tough to stay positive when she is so dramatic. Fun stuff, this parenting thing.

Part of me wonders if these behaviors and attitude are related to the 3 year old struggle, the frustration of being stuck at home more because of Mason, or just because of Mason in general. Or a combination of it all.  And so acting out is a pretty good way to get attention and deal with her frustrations. So I guess I understand the reasons behind her behaviors, I just need to keep working on my expectations and the way I handle them. And that does not include wishing to send her away until she is 4 because I've heard it gets better then.