My parents took off for Italy on Tuesday, so things around here have been a bit crazy (having them here in town is just a huge comfort, even if they are at their house all alone-ha). It seems as if when it rains, it pours. Nathan's grandfather, Lee Wilcke, passed away yesterday morning. It was expected, as he has had cancer for the past 8 months or so. It's still very sad when it happens, but at least we know that he's resting now, pain free, and living with God. We'll miss you Lee... and I'll see that Kaitlyn becomes a supermodel just for you! :)
So Nathan is leaving tomorrow for Iowa, to celebrate Lee's life with his family. I can't go unless we ALL go, so that's just not going to happen. We got to fly up to Iowa in December to see Lee when we knew he'd be enduring chemo but with a skeptical outcome. We are very happy we made that trip and got to spend a few hours with him.
I also read on Maureen's blog that she's had to have surgery to put tubes into her abdomen to help her bowels work. She has said that it's not good news, which scares me so much. She is such a beautiful ambitious woman, and she deserves to live a happy, healthy and long life.
Now on to the children....
After a few attempts by Kaitlyn to break out of her crib (nearly pushing herself up enough to fall out), we decided to take the front rail off of her crib and put a guard rail on it instead. This meas that she can, and DOES frequently, get out of her crib by herself. Unlike James, who was so young to know he could actually get out of his big boy bed by himself, she was up and out of there as soon as we first put her in it. This saga continues. We used a technique with James that I saw and also read about in the Supernanny show/book. To sum up, you tell them goodnight, give hugs and kisses and put them in bed. The first time they get out, you remind them that it's bedtime and put them back into bed. The second time and on, you don't give any eye contact or words and "simply" just keep putting them back into bed until eventually they give up and you win. It's a lot easier said than done, I'll tell you that much. I've been doing this with Kaitlyn for about a week now, and she really has been doing well, only getting out of bed at most about 5 times. Yesterday, however, was waaaay different. I put her down for her nap around 12:45 and she continually got out of bed until 2:30. Yes, you read that right. She got out of bed around 30 to 40 times! I was so frustrated and irritated that I tried being a bit firm with her, but it didn't help, it made it worse. I'd put her down, tell her, "You go to SLEEP KAITLYN!" and she'd reply with "Okay, Mommy," and close her eyes. I'd walk out, and up she'd stand and out she'd come. To top things off, she'd see me peek into the crack of her door, and she'd say, "Wheeere's Mommy?" GAH! It's funny, I admit, but it wasn't yesterday!
That whole time, I'm also dealing with James not wanting to nap. "Mommy? I have to go potty! Mommy? I can't sleep! Can I come out yet?" I finally just bit the bullet and sent James downstairs to play while I stayed with little Miss Mexican Jumping Bean and kept putting her back to bed. I could hear James singing downstairs and playing with Kaitlyn's Irish doll. So finally, after Kaitlyn fell asleep and tears of happiness were pouring out of my eyes (ok, not really, but nearly) I got to go downstairs and sit on the couch. Ahhh, relief. Kaitlyn slept until 4, when I woke her up. I knew that would create havoc on our night time ritual... and I was right.
Since I had been home all day nearly going crazy, Nathan took over bedtime. Kaitlyn did surprisingly well staying in bed after the two hour session at nap time. James fell asleep within seconds of hitting the pillow since he didn't nap. It was about 9:30 PM when I heard James crying and coughing. "OH NO! He's throwing up!" I thought as I raced upstairs to help him. I ran into his room, flipped on the light expecting to see vomit and have to change sheets, but instead saw Kaitlyn, holding Lovie and her musical bear, sitting up on James' bed up by his pillows. James was crying in confusion, not knowing what was going on and blinded by the bright light that I had turned on. Kaitlyn BETH!
I put her back in bed, told her to "STAY HERE. Go to SLEEP. GoodNIGHT."
"Okay Mommy." I walked out, and up she stood and out she climbed. I put her back. She got out one or two more times, I put her back into bed a few more times. And FINALLY she stayed and fell asleep. One of her biggest clues is this: if she's talking, she's in bed, if she's quiet, she's climbing out.
Ugh. Yesterday was exhausting. Hopefully today will be better and when Nathan leaves tomorrow I'll be rebooted to deal with the kids by myself until Thursday. Anyone want to babysit? ;) Just kidding.
