The Diaper Problem

This is so ridiculous, but as Sammy has moved up a diaper size her diapers are harder to distinguish from Harmon's just by glancing at them. And if you have a helper who likes to take all diapers out of any container they may be put in, you will then have a jumble of diapers of various sizes which then require opening the tab to see what size they are. This is not a task I wish upon anyone. After lamenting my fate of always having to figure out which diaper is which when it is urgently needed I came up with the best solution I could think of: my old friend sharpie. Now when I open a pack of diapers I take a few minutes to pull them all out, mark them with the appropriate 'H' or 'S' and feel like a genius.

Harmon's Sixth Sense

Is knowing the exact moment in which I am 30 seconds away from finishing nursing the baby and about to put her into her crib ultra-drowsy. He will ALWAYS come wandering in and for some reason my almost 18-month-old doesn't understand "shhhhhh baby peanut is sleeping!" Or maybe he does, because he will then knock on the door, bang toys together, and talk as loud as he can.

Man I love that stinker. Even if his sister would get more sleep if he would quit it.

I'm Dying, or Sleep PLEASE!

So, the cribs in the same room idea was good. It turns out I sleep a lot better with no babies making little (or big) noises in my ear. What is not so good is that my children hate sleeping. Luckily they have been pretty good about not waking each other up, but perhaps that is in part because I go running in at the slightest noise to keep whoever is the noise producer quiet. Which is approximately EVERY HOUR.

Somehow my babies come out sleeping well enough, and by months have learned that waking up every hour is the best idea in the world. I think Harmon was at 2-3 hours by 4 months and waited until 6 months to do the hourly thing. Sammy is so advanced. I realize that Sammy is suffering teething pains, but most of the time she just wants a little snack and to be put back to sleep. The times when Sammy has been sleeping 2 or more hours, Harmon favors us with a teeth pain induced waking, or perhaps just an "it's-5am-I-want-to-be-cuddled-and-rocked-while-you-stand-up-don't-you-even-think-about-sitting-or-laying-down" waking which we enjoy so much.

All this sleep deprivation leads me to say awful things to my kind husband who asks yesterday morning: "what can I do to help?" My reply? "Don't get me pregnant ever again!"

But seriously. One baby is ridiculous if you like sleep. Two babies? I think I may die.

The Same Room Experiment

Since Sammy had decided to start waking up every hour for fun I decided it was time to start the kids sleeping in the same room earlier than I had planned. She had been sleeping in our room in a co-sleeper, but it seemed being so close to me made her want to wake up and play/eat every hour or so. Which of course left me feeling like death all day every day.

So, two days ago we set up crib #2, and last night I put her to sleep in Harmon's room. It went like this:

7:30 feed Sammy and put her down in her crib, turn on sound machine
8:00 read books with Harmon in our room, bring him into his room to sing and sleep
1:30 Sammy wakes up, feed her for 15 min
3:30 Sammy wakes up, feed her for 15 min (panic that this is going to be the pattern for the rest of the night)
6:30 Harmon wakes up, turn off sound machine
6:31 Sammy wakes up

Although this was only night #1, it went WAY better than expected. I slept 3 1/2 hours in a row and got 8 hours total. It was amazing. I can only pray that it continues.