It has been a while since I posted about sleep so I thought it was time. Last week when we went down to the beach and Max got to bed before 8:30 pm, I noticed a change in him the next morning. I noticed that he was much happier and rested. His bed time went from 7 pm, when he was little, to 7:30 pm, then 8 pm and then 8:30 pm. I noticed in the past 2 months that he was so tired and cranky when he got up but I had no idea how to get him to bed earlier. I had tried all of the text book methods and I guess he was not ready. But I was ready.

The night we came home from the beach was glorious because I had an entire night to relax and wind down. I actually went to sleep before 11 pm. So since that day, exactly a week ago, Max has gone to sleep before 8 pm. I am doing the same routine but I increased the routine from 45 mins to 1 hour and it seems to be working. He is not fighting the sleep, instead he welcomes it. Thank goodness.

We also bought him a bog boy bed, well actually we turned his crib into a bed with a full mattress and he loves it. Selfishly, I could not even fit on the small mattress any longer and so I think we did not have a choice anymore. Luckily we already had the crib and so we just needed to buy the conversion kit and the mattress. I will have to post pics because it all worked out so nicely. I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and found a quilt and matching pillow shams that exactly match his window treatments. YEAH! I love when shit works out my way. LOL

So back to the sleep. I am not sure if it is the huge bed or the many soft pillows or just Max getting older but going down a little early works for him and his Momma.

Last night I went out to dinner with some girls (most of them I did not know but it was fun to have a girls night out) and they were talking about their kids sleeping stuff. They all did the cry it out method and they all have kids that sleep great and they were making comments about kids sleeping in their parents beds etc. I just laughed to myself and thought well I sleep with my kid half the night in his bed-why should I say anything-it is just not worth it because what I have realized is that it all os good-it is whatever works for your family.

I feel that I am not jinxing myself because this been happening for about 2 weeks now. I thought about posting about it before but again, last time I wrote about sleep, well it jinxed me.

Max has been going to sleep at 8:30 pm every night. We start bath at 7:45 pm and then we do a massage for a few minutes, read some books and rock in the rocking chair and then finish his bottle and then go to sleep. It is so nice. I am loving it and I also see that Max is so much better rested. So yes, to the point, Max is waking up between 5 am and 5:45 am and then I go in and sleep in his bed till 6:30/7 am. I am confident that Max will learn how to sleep by the next baby. I am feeling so much better now that I am sleeping too. Horray!!

I also want to say that is feels great that we chose to do the sleep thing in a way that worked for us. Max has not been back in our bed since I started the transition to his room. I think it would be too confusing for him. It has been about a 2 month process and I am so happy for Max and well I am happy for me too. I did a very loving method with Max and his sleep issues. Keep in mind that I am not saying that other methods are not loving but this is what felt like love for us.

I am not sure if I will do anything different with the next one. I think it will be pretty much the same and I am sure it will all work out. What did you do with your child?

I think I figured out why I am feeling so run down..my kid is teething and not sleeping. When Max is not feeling well, he my be up about 4 times a night and does not go into a deep sleep. I have been going to sleep later because he is waking up at 10 pm and by the time I get to sleep myself it is 11 pm and then he is up and then I am up. It has been hard and I guess I never think about the sleep thing because I have never had a good night of sleep since max was born but now that I am pregnant, well I am so damn tired.

Today was one of those days. I woke up and looked in  the mirror and there were bags under my eyes and my eyes were swollen. I woke up irritated and tired. I felt like there was nothing in my gas tank. I felt like I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. It is not just taking care of Max..it just feels like everything.I know this is not real…it is just because I am tired and not sleeping.

Max did not want to go down for a nap and I felt so irritated and felt like saying why me.

Then my hubby did not put away the soup in the crock pot from this am (which I had asked) and I wanted to say why me. **(even though I just forgot something yesterday for him and it was not big deal but Iin my head TODAY it was a big deal)

I need to pay some bills and I want to say why me.

I need to take back a pair of awesome shoes I bought and get a smaller size and I want to say why me.

See such privileged problems but still when I am tired and pregnant..well nothing matters. I am sure I will feel better tomorrow and hopefully Max will sleep tonight.

As promised, here it is. I looked at the picture I posted yesterday and it makes me look like I am huge so I figured I would post another. Especially after I was at our music class today and one of the moms who is prego is huge and only 3 weeks more than me. So here it is.

As for our music class, Max was hit by another kid. The kid is about 3 months older than Max and I guess I have a question for moms that have older kids. Do all kids hit at a certain age or do some kids never hit?  I was not upset when the kid hit him because I know the kid is a sweetie but his mom is pregnant too and maybe he is acting out or is he just being an older boy???

Well on another note-I think I did the superstar dance today because my kid waited to go to sleep until we got home. We came in and I made him a bottle and he waved goodbye to the down stairs and then I rocked him for a few and he got into bed. AAAAHHHHHH so nice. I felt like I am finally getting the hang of this sleep thing. Also Maxs sleep is getting better. I am sleeping 1/2 the night with him in his room and last night I only slept 3/4 with him. I am confident that by 23 months he will be doing pretty good but regardless I am happy with what we are doing. It works.

Well I spoke to my husband last night in a very positive way, more  than I did a week ago. I am not sure if I mentioned in my post that I spoke to my husband about the issues I had mentioned but I was so emotional and so irritated that I don not think it was productive, even though we ended up having a great weekend and the discussion ended in a hug. But last night it was calm and clear. i expressed my feelings without thinking..just letting them roll off regardless of the outcome. I guess I realized that Scott may never change but I need to. I witnessed growing up with my own mother-who was an amazing mom-but you could always tell that she was holding back her true feelings when it came to my dad and later my step-dad, I learned to stuff and to make sense of why things were messed up. I know I do not want to be that mom for me and I also don’t want Max and the next one to learn how to stuff. So I am talking regardless of the outcome.

I am starting to feel like the first trimester fog has lifted. I actually took Max to the pool and we ran around the house playing hide and go seek. We had an awesome day. I think I am also learning about my kids sleep schedules. When he naps one hour only he may go to sleep around 7:30 to 7:45. At one hour and 30 minutes it is 8 pm and finally at 2 hours it is 8:30 pm. Finally after 17 months I am starting to get it. I have also learned that Max can transfer from the car to his bed if he has only been asleep less than 10 minutes..if not just stay in the damn car and read a magazine. 

As for our sleeping arrangements, I have begun to get Max used to his room and that means I am going in to his room and not bringing him into bed with us–OH I MEAN I am falling asleep in his bed as I am helping him to get back to sleep. Actually this is working out quite well since I do not hear Esther’s pug breath/snort/cough. Yes I love my pug dearly but during pregnancy I am such a light sleeper that even her snorts keep me up. Also the hubby is a late night TV watcher and so..I and we, meaning Max and myself are sleeping great and sleeping till 7 am. WOW! Regardless, I am hoping I can keep myself awake to get back to bed but for now-at least he knows that our bed is not the place but know he knows his bed is and momma is there too. Baby steps is what I have to say. And honestly, I love having him next to me. But it will be nice sharing a bed with the hubby in about 5 years. 

Max and i went to the pool today. They have an amazing large in length and 1 foot in height baby pool. Max adored it and I think we will be there almost everyday after nap. I loved it too. They have a playground, snack bar, and a few pools. It is not a country club but they have a swim team and all that good stuff. It is right around the corner and we joined a few months ago. Anyway, Max fell down 3 times and got water in his ears and I leaned him over to the side-just like you do when you are older-and I shook and pushed on his ears to get the water out-but no ear pulling or ear digging. I am so damn amazed. I am so careful with his ears that I only wash his hair once a week. Luckily, he takes after me because his scalp never smells. hey women with curly hair can’t wash their hair more than once a week or it will all die.

Well I guess that is enough for tonight. I know I was supposed to do my tagged post but I had to write about our great Sunday and all the updates.