Shavuot and Sleep
Thursday was the Shavuot celebration at school.
I brought the babies to school since they were born since last Shavuot and are "presented" to the Jewish community. Aviva was there to help and we went up with our friend D and her son A who's in C's class. They brought up L who's A's youngest sister. C was thrilled to show off M & H and M gave a huge smile to the crowd. I don't think she'll be a performer since she clams up when she sees the red light when I tape her on the Flip, but she sure was hamming it up today.
Anyway, the kindergarten performed a song and they were so cute.
Several things really impressed me. To see 150+ kids all dressed in white, plus all the adults was really cool. Just a sea of happy white.
When the Torah was brought out, all the kids were pushing forward to have their moment where they could touch and kiss the blessed scrolls. Even if they don't fully understand the significance (especially the little kids), they all know the ritual and that the Torah is sacred. And the end of the ceremony, all the kids sang "Hatikvah" full voice as if they were singing the "Star Spangled Banner". I know these are all the reasons that we sent C to Jewish day school but when you see it in practice, and it's just so natural, it's very inspirational.I took M & H to the doctor the other day to get their 5 month shots and I wanted to have them weighed. M weighed in at 13 pounds 1 ounce. H was 12 pounds 14 ounces (I think on the oz. with her) but she gained over 2 pounds in a month. I'm thinking they moved up a little from the 10th percentile. As for the shots, H went first and after the first one, she smiled at the nurse. After the second shot in the other leg, just a little utz like "what the heck was that?". Next up was M, who we know is quite the screecher. I was prepared for anything. First shot, another smile. Second shot, nothing. Not a peep. I don't know if the nurse had the magic touch or what but they were quite the model patients.
They're now 5 months as we know, and it was finally time to move them into their own cribs. They've been in the same crib for about 2 months and while M is a lousy sleeper, H is a mover (just like C) and was waking her up when she'd spread out. So on Thursday, I pulled all the stuffed animals out of the other crib and moved them around so they were good to go. They look so cute sleeping in their own space and thankfully, have slept a lot better and longer. Last night alone, H slept about 11 hours and didn't wake up until almost 9AM today. Yay for me. They're definitely sleeping better in their own space.
Now, if I can only get them to go to sleep easier.
With G out of town for another 9 days, I've been working hard at trying to get them to sleep at a reasonable time (8PM-ish) so that if they wake up, it's around midnight and then hopefully, they'll make it through after that. H is easier to get to sleep so I go for her first. It's been hit and miss but eventually she falls asleep. She's better at putting herself to sleep on her own. M, oy, she's following in her sister C's footsteps. Fights it all the way. She has yet to go to sleep before 10P (yes from starting the process before 8P) and it's making me simply bonkers. I know there are those who subscribe to the "cry it out" theory and honestly, I would let her have a bit of a cry, but with the girls sharing a room, I can't afford to have her wake up H, especially when it's only me at home at the moment and it's hopeless when they're both going nuts. I'll keep trying and we'll get there eventually, if it doesn't kill me first. And for those who yell at me for being up at all sorts of stupid hours, after taking 2+ hours to get everyone to sleep, it's only then that I get to do things like put laundry away, put dishes in the dishwasher and get on the computer for the first time in a day.
As I said before, the girls did a great weight gain in the last month. Personally, I'm a little shocked. M has done nothing but spit everything up. Clearly, she's got the colic thing going for her. H a little bit, but nothing that I wouldn't consider normal. M, everything comes up eventually. She has several changes of clothes in a day and so do I. Spit up cloths are all over the house. Tonight was a perfect example of what goes on. She ate and was ready for bed but she had her big blue eyes open. H was asleep so I took M downstairs to sit with me while I watched a movie with C. M was pretty calm and the eyes were closed. I brought her upstairs and put her in her crib. She woke up but was quiet so I put on one of the music toys and walked away. I did that 3 times. She started to ramp up her whinging and was getting louder so I picked her up to get her out of there since H was stirring a little. As I was walking down the hall to bring her back downstairs, a HUGE spit up occured, all over her, me and some hit the floor. Okay, enough of the soggy pj's (which had been put on about an hour earlier) and right into the bath she went where she proceeded to spit up some more in the tub. Hopeless. I got her out and cleaned up and then she was up for another 40 minutes until she finally crashed. It was almost 11PM. Now, I fully expect her to sleep through the night, thank goodness, but the going to bed process is killing me. Takes way too long. The naps aren't a lot better or their inconsistent. We try and try to get them to sleep and some days it just doesn't happen. Yesterday, C had a playdate and I was excited that I could just relax with the girls and I was so looking forward to closing my eyes for an hour with them. They didn't sleep at all between 11:30A and 4P. I was dying. Clearly, I'm doing many things wrong in the sleep department and I need to figure out how to correct them. C, the pancake baby, has always been a lousy sleeper and I just can't take two more. Some days it works, some days it doesn't. How come everyone else seems to get their kids into a routine and it works? I don't get it.
Okay, going to bed to enjoy (hopefully) a few straight hours of uninterrupted sleep. (she typed with hope in her voice...)
posted by Juls @ 1:40 AM
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