Noah has officially been sleeping through the night for 5 weeks now.
FINALLLLLLLY!! I am so relieved! At 20 months old I was getting really concerned about how I was going to break Noah's 3am habit of waking for a bottle...and I was getting exhausted after 20 months of having to get up in the night. I knew he should be sleeping through and I even had people telling me he should be sleeping through, but he just wouldn't. I had tried everything from letting him cry (which he would hysterically do for an hour) to leaving water at the end of his bed, but nothing worked. I never had any trouble getting Hayden or Ashton to sleep through the night so Noah gave me a new challenge, but it was one I would rather not of had (but aren't they all!) Anyway, it is completely wonderful to sleep from 11pm until 6 or 7 am without being woken. I feel so happy to get out of bed in the morning as opposed to feeling like all I want to do is stay in bed. Looking back over Noah's first year I realized that I unknowingly gave him the sleeping problem by immediately responding to him during the night every time he woke. He spent his entire first year sleeping right beside me and I was always on edge at night that Noah would wake Hayden and Ashton in our small apartment. So I would immediately feed him to keep him quiet and get him back to sleep. Thank goodness we have overcome that hurdle even though it ended up being my own doing! Now that Noah's sorted Hayden has been waking me twice a night this past week because he's been having nightmares ...aahhh! I guess that's motherhood, one challenge to the next!
Ashton seems to have learned something new at Kindy this week. He’s told me several times that ‘GIRLS HAVE GUY-NA-SES’…
We had our final Primary activity for the year on Saturday. We decided to make it extra special by going out to Crystal Mountain where the kids could pan for their own crystals and take them home. They also got a train ride and were able to feed all the farm animals.
Tony and Hayden were in the Orewa Santa parade for Tony’s work. Hayden likes being in the parade handing out flyers and lollies(candy) to all the children on the side of the street. Tony was the ‘blood dude’ again which he always enjoys because he gets to dress up and no one knows who he is. That way he can be as silly as he likes without embarrassing himself! The 'blood dude' costume is a big blood drop with a smiley face on the front.
I ran into the fruit and veggie shop during the week and usually I leave Noah in his car seat since I can park right outside the shop and see him from inside. This week I needed a lot of fruit and veggies so I let him get out of his seat and shop with me. Within 2 minutes of being in the store Noah ran over to the eggs, picked one up and immediately dropped it on the ground. He stared at the broken egg and mess for ages totally amazed and surprised at was on the floor. I think from now on I'll keep him in his car seat - it sure does make shopping a lot easier (and the shop assistants seem to like me much better!).
Whenever Hayden or Ashton do something good, Tony and I frequently give the boys a ‘high five’. Noah has caught on to this and insists on getting one too. In his high-pitched squeaky baby voice he holds his hand out saying, “high five, high five, high five”.
Over here people are really into texting instead of calling on the phone. Instead of my boys saying, “Mum, the phone’s for you” they say, “Mum, you got a txt”. Even businesses txt to remind you of appointments instead of calling, and I have to say that I prefer it much better as you can respond in your own time instead of answering the phone when it’s inconvenient. The other day Ashton was crying and crying over some bug on the floor that he was scared of (and so was I!). Through his tears he kept saying, “I want Daddy, TEXT HIM, TEXT HIM!!
When Hayden started school I was so pleased that he was excited about going. Fortunately, he has remained excited about going (well, at least gone willingly) ever since...until this week that is. My mum use to tell me that one of the hardest times for her as a mother was forcing Travis to go to school when he didn't want to. It breaks every mum's heart when their child is crying and upset about going to school, yet you still have to send them. On Friday, Hayden was crying hysterically about having to go and since he wasn't in a very good emotional state I let him stay home. It didn't help the situation that I had told him off that morning and had really over-reacted to what he'd done (which I was feeling very guilty about). On Monday I drove him to school, waved good-bye to him and assumed all was well, but a few seconds later he was shouting from across the road, "Mum, I don't want to go." I said, "Go on, you'll be fine". He started to run towards his class in the rain, but then he turned back again and stood at the side of the road crying and sobbing hysterically. I managed to get him to his classroom corridor and within minutes kids and teachers started coming up to see what was wrong. I couldn't calm him down and I had no choice but to make a run for it and let his teacher calm him down. Of course I came home and worried and thought every minute about how he was doing. I was feeling so bad for him because I knew he had been feeling a little left out by his two best friends who had been letting Hayden know that they were having play dates after school and that he wasn't invited.
Mrs Feltham, Hayden's teacher, called me from the classroom during morning tea to say that Hayden was fine and after having a good talk with him she had discovered that the problem was a little exclusion, but mostly another little boy in the class who had been bothering him all year. The little Asian boy had been consistently following Hayden everywhere, always wanting to sit next to him, line up beside him, play with him at lunch etc, etc. He's a nice little boy, but he doesn't have very good social skills and unfortunately he's a little unpopular in the class because he sometimes smells. Hayden has repeatedly told him that he needs more space, but the boy takes no notice whatsoever. Mrs Feltham says that she had been witnessing the build up of Hayden's frustration when this boy would sit too close to him, talk right up close to his face, or insist on following him around at lunch time, but she (like me) didn't realize Hayden was starting to feel so suffocated. Hayden is nice to him and likes to play with him sometimes, just not all the time. Mrs Feltham has already made sure the boy will not be in Hayden's class next year. And she has also arranged for Hayden and Alexander to have special duties together in the classroom.
Thank goodness for good teachers who really care and help our kids. They have such a hard job trying to notice all of these little things with only 1 of them and 20-25 kids. Now that we got to the bottom of the problem there has been no more fuss about going to school and Hayden has been going off happily.
Hayden and Ashton build Noah a train track.
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