Every morning I wait with abaited breath....

to see what Timehop has to offer. Honestly I totally love this app. Maybe just second to Instagram. Truly seeing those pics and status from years ago often tug on my heart strings. Last week it offered my tiny baby boys on their Ybikes. Just a few days before the Princess at 6 with no front teeth. Sweet memories. Yesterday though the memories were not that sweet. My thankfulness that we have moved on though was HUGE!

For those who have not "known"us for this long, Mr L only started sleeping through consistently about 2 years ago - at more than 4 and a half years of age. Up to a stage Mr C was also a rather bad sleeper but with Mr L it was what happens to Neuro A typical kids - the over active mind in the middle of the night. (It is well documented on the blog - just search sleep) He would be awake between 2 to 5 nights a week for periods of 2 to 4 hours a night. Talking, trying his best to sleep, but really not able to. We sometimes now still have single nights - once every 3 months or so, like Friday night where he woke up at 1:30 and only fell asleep again at about 4:30.

We tried everything - brushing, melatonin, routines, baths - we even imported a weighted blanket. Something like this can not be countered with sleep training or anything like that. It is totally outside of the usual range of things. I can not really tell you what worked in the end - I guess a bit of everything. With him going firstly on Ritalin and now on Concerta it was often my first worry - that bad sleeping would return. But luckily after a night or so with every changeover he was back on track.

I often wonder how much developmental damage was done to that little brain - would he have less delays if he slept better? I know that it really challenged my attention span at work as well as my performance. Heavens, I even developed high cholesterol from sleep deprivation. Would we have been looking at non mainstream schooling for him if he slept better? I guess its pretty much the chicken and the egg situation. I guess I have spent more than my usual awake hours the last few weeks about this too.

Honestly I am just grateful that we (and especially him) are sleeping well and hope and pray it continues, medication and all. And that we will find the right school and do the best we can for our little man.

Today I am feeling....

cranky, irritated and very very tired. I have shouted at all and sunder and really, I need to regroup myself here. Center on being a better person. All because I am exhausted and tired - yesterday was extremely hot in our part of the world and last night was terrible. Both the boys woke up, hot and sweaty and of course, L struggled to fall asleep again. Last look I had on my phone was 3:30 - somewhere after that the two of us fell asleep to wake up at about 6 again.Poor kid must be exhausted too - hope he sleeps at school.

We have had two weeks of good sleep with only 2 of the 14 nights not sleep through nights - the last 3 has not been great. Amazing how quickly one grows used to good sleep and how your body (and in my case mind) struggles to re-adjust. Here's hoping this is just a glitch due to the heat mainly and not a new pattern. 

What I did not include

in yesterday's post, for the fear that Mr Murphy is reading this blog, is that up to last night, Little Man L slept through for 7 nights. It is a first this year. Wow! Secretly that was my biggest milestone. But now I know that Murphy can read minds too.

Just to be shattered last night by first, him falling out of his bed, then the Princess with a puking incident, and then him waking again at 2 and only falling asleep after 5. Gee, am I wiped - totally. I am teary, tired, irritated and want to eat everything I am not allowed to eat - Bar One and Coke combination would have gone down so well today. It would certainly have helped me to be a wee bit more alert.

Mr Murphy you have no reason to read this. None whatsoever.

But we have been having some great sleep recently. I truly believe that we prayed this sleep from God. Little man L has slept through for 6 nights! On Sunday night he briefly woke up and went back to sleep almost immediately. On Sunday afternoon we all had a 2 and a half hour nap. I think the last time we slept this well might have been when the boys were around 7 months of age.

But it is not only on this front that things seem to be moving ahead. The last two weeks Little man L has been in a total developmental overload. He has started to chat in English. His language skills is general has hugely improved. His teacher independently told me on Friday that she is totally stunned by the speed his development has taken. Yes, he is not potty trained yet, maybe that will fall into place soon. Please God, let it fall into place. His newest social milestone is that at last he has developed into our newest little tatter tail - as if 2  in the household were not enough. We still have our moments - last night he was over tired and irritated, but in general these are getting less.

He is starting to recognize colours, he participates in activities way more than he used too. He communicates so well. I am so totally grateful. I do believe the Wilbarger brushing and deep pressure technique we have been doing the last 3 weeks certainly played it's part as has the Occupational therapy and Play therapy.. But I also believe that our constant prayers for our little boy is the crucial part of the equation.

Today we will find out our way ahead with his eyes - we are seeing the pediatric ophthalmologist again and I hope that our prayers  for his eye has also been answered. If not so, the I do believe that the operation was meant to be the next step - the tool God wishes us to use.

Truly, they keep us on our knees. And humble in ways we never knew existed. Our wonderful beautiful children.

Edited to add at 3:05 pm - Praise the Lord - there is remarked improvement. Although not exactly where he should be but close enough not to warrant surgery now. I am hugely relieved! We need to continue with his glasses and the dreaded drops every weekend for the next 6 to 8 months when he has his regular yearly check-up.

I guess you are all rather tired of hearing about the sleep thing...

You know, that thing most people do at night. As most of my regular readers know, I now believe a night of uninterrupted sleep is just a rumor. But I have decided to keep a little sleep "diary" - a print out of the calender where I record the sleep we had every morning. In the week before this, from Tuesday to Tuesday., we had Little man L only sleeping through 3 nights - one of which was the Tuesday after Occupational Therapy and the Saturday when he only fell asleep at 11:30 after a huge afternoon nap. We used to see a pattern that he slept badly after OT (stimulated?) and on the nights when he had his eyedrop in his good eye. The problem was that 3 of the other nights he wake up between 2:30 and 3:00 and then was awake for 1 to 3 hours - apparently a typical SID kid issue. The 7th night he woke up briefly and went back to sleep. The problem is that C had a bad week too and they only both slept through one night.

I was hugely relieved when the OT on Tuesday morning had some more suggestions after discussing the issue with some of her partners. She had quite a few suggestions (and heavens, we have tried many both suggested by her or reasearched by me- the weighted blanket, the melatonin...) - let him sleep in a sleeping bag, do deep pressure with him before bedtime, keep up with the Melatonin and see if he wants the weighted blanket - let him decide. We also changed our routine to bath just before bed and not before dinner. The result - he has now slept through for 4 nights in the last 7, 2 where he did the hours awake thing (I call them epic sleep failures) and one where he briefly woke up at about 3:00. A slight one night improvement. Little man C kept waking up at about 3:00 this week, but somehow on Friday night it all came together and they both slept through for the following 3 nights. Last night was epic sleep failure time again - but from 4:30 so I guess it is ok. But L fell asleep directly after bath and I did not do the deep pressure exercises with him so I do not know if that was the issue.

Regardless - one would assume I had a good sleep for 3 nights? Nope! I woke up every night at 3:30 - jip, I now have their sleep routine. This morning at least I slept until L woke up.

So this morning the OT showed me the brush technique used by OT for SID kids - she die explain that it must be followed by the deep pressure and she has lent us a brush so that we can see if it works for us. This is something that will either work or not but Little man L seem to enjoy it. So the experimenting goes on. I have given up on finding "the answer" to the issue, but maybe I keep hoping.

BTW she has also suggested that we have his tonsils removed - it's been a long time coming, the tonsils thing, so maybe?

Zzzzzz, an update on the sleep issue & the Prental bed issue

When I was pregnant with the Princess, amongst other myths I felt I had to believe in, was the one of never sharing the parental bed with your child. Stupidly (or maybe just stars in the eyes), I proclaimed that our bed is our bed, and not to be shared. With her it actually mostly worked out - she has always loved sleeping in her own bed and in her own room and must be one of the world's best sleepers. Even now, when she is sick and I want her close to us, she prefers to sleep on the mattress we keep in the room, rather that between us. But some times, it is her biggest comfort - like the night before her operation when she snuggly slept between us.

Que in the arrival of the twins. For the first few months, it actually went fine. When sickness struck, I (at first reluctantly) gave up our parental bed and shared it with them. Later followed sleep training and they mostly slept in their own beds. Or we slept in the extra bed in their room. Now, with them having big boy beds, and L's sleep issues, things are rather changed. A few weeks ago when we had 3 sick kids we just abandoned the parental bed - we let all 3 the kids sleep in our bed and we slept on the double bed mattress that lives below our bed. For that period of time it was actually a life sleep saving plan. Through the Princess and my time in the Berg, Hunter and the boys shared the parental bed and the next two nights we moved them to the mattress and us back into our bed. And eventually last week, them back to their beds. Since than, sleep has been rather scarce again - C seem to wake every night and then wakes up L. But the last two nights C has slept though in his own bed and L comes to our bed, to get in and quickly fall asleep again. In fact, he even moves to the mattress so we are (possibly) moving on.

Last night was a horror night though - the ones I describe as epic sleep failures - but due to our second, more specific sleep issue. Regular readers might remember me telling about how Little man L wakes up and then can not go back to sleep for anything between 1 to 4 hours. It is exhausting, Last night was one of those. But we have only had 3 of those in the last month - compared to about 3 a week before, it must be positive.

A while ago the sport teacher at the Boys' school told me that her 16 year old son also have SID and that he describes that, up to today, he wakes in the middle of the night, his mind racing and body aching. It immediately made sense to me that this is what he is experiencing. We wriggles around (body sore?) and speaks and talks about his day (mind racing?). Her son first slept through at age 6.

The weighted blanket we bought at great cost does not seem to be our answer as it is for a lot of SID kids. So I resorted to SID forums and the rest and the word "Melatonin" kept popping up. It has also been suggested by US bloggers but all the pharmacists I talked to did not want to try it on a 2 year old (which is when I last enquired about it). So I called our pediatrician. who asked me for a day to research and called me back the next day, giving me the go ahead on 1mg per night. And it has made a difference - not that he sleeps through - he still wakes up every nioght and crawls into our bed, but that he does not stay awake for hours (barring the 3 odd nights in between). So despite the tough night last night, I remain positive that we are heading for better sleep times. It just better get a lot better soon.

So do you share your bed? Do you believe in the parental bed?

So they are big boys...

in big boys beds.

As most of you know we have had a rather rough sleep issue with our boys. We have had better and worse times. The last 3 weeks have been some of the worst ever. L just did not sleep through - almost never, and when he wakes up it takes an average of 2 hours to get him back to sleep - most often between 2 and 4 in the mornings. So I have ordered a weighted blanket a while ago as so many moms of SID kids have told me that this was the answer to their problems. But last Monday I rented Lucy to sleep with the boys - I just had to have one night of good sleep. The next morning she confirmed what we had thought - their toddler beds (that was their cribs converted) was too small for them. Little man C starts getting restless at about 2, bumps on his bed and wakes up little man L. C then comes to our room, get on the little mattress and just falls asleep again. L just can not fall asleep again.

So my hubby immediately reacted on this on Tuesday night - we have long ago arranged with my mom that we will exchange the double bed we had in their room (with their cots) for two single beds in her spare room. Hunter just did it - himself!  We put the boys to sleep in our bedroom on our bed on Tuesday night and as soon as he had the beds in and I made them, we moved them to their new room at about 11pm. They only woke up at 5:30! The next evening they went to bed, on their own in their new beds. And woke up at 6:05. Friday morning was not so great - both up at 4 am! And eventually we got the much anticipated weighted blanket on Friday afternoon - and have the old 2 to 4 am story of the past. Really I wanted to cry on all the money spent on the bloody thing, and no sleep joy. But Saturday night and last night was wonderful - all slept through until almost 6. Maybe L just had to get used to the blanket.

So we live in eternal hope of the full night's sleep, but hoping we have moved in the right direction.

Then we moved the cribs apart and added the side panels back. For the last two years, we took the sides down again, re-arranged the room and they had toddler beds.

And we have big boy beds (still need to move one cot).

And the smiles says it all!

A good night's rest to you all - we are surely hoping for one.

Just the usual madness

• Well, apart from the anger/tantrum issues that Little man L is having at the moment. Gee, they are HUGE! However, tonight was easy, calm and tantrum free. Can you believe it?
• Added to that, and please Mr Murphy do NOT read here! We have had a whole week that L has slept through and C woke up briefly on 2 nights only. Please may this be the start of better sleep.
• And this is how you look if your 6 year old sister makes you a pirate with face paint.

The weekend report

So the weekend was one of those - fun filled at times and very challenging at others. Sleep was mostly the challenging part with L, currently the better sleeper of the twins, waking up around 1:30 Friday and Saturday night and only going back to sleep at about 3:30 (yes, I do check the clock!).Last night, they slept through. Bliss! I did manage a short nap on Saturday and Sunday and I let Hunter sleep in on Sunday morning, taking the kids to church on my own and visiting my mom after.The highlights was good though: - afternoon walks on both days with the kids and the puppies, the Princess went to the Men*lyn drive-in with friends on Friday night and loved it, and the kids were super good in the church. I really could almost not believe how good they were.The highlight however was family fun day at the Boys' school.

For some of us,  the water slide proved irresistible.

 While others discovered the joy of a jumping castle for the first time.

 

 Stolen twin moments - I have no idea what these two were up to right here, but it does warm my heart.

 As we sat chatting to other parents I remarked to Hunter that this is the first family fun day since the boys were born that we actually sat down and talked to people and did not spend all our time running after a kid.

So yes, small steps, small bits of progress makes my Monday.

Playing along with Cheryl.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

My initial title for this post was, "Two steps forward, one step back", but no! I am refusing to look at life in this way. We have to win- we can have 3 content and happy kids.

The transition to school for the boys have not been easy for any one of us. It also does not impact just at what  happens at school but also the fallout at home for us. Our usual "difficult" boy, little man C is now all of a sudden Mr Happy Camper - well, most of the time. He can not wait to get to school, in the afternoons he is in general happy and mostly tantrum free where we were used to a string of tantrums regularly.

For little man L going to school has not been easy - this morning was the first relatively drama free drop off, but the day turned downwards as it progressed. He is also not easy at home and has been niggly and crying a lot. Only the last two days he played contently up until dinner time when only a little gets eaten and all hell breaks loose when we move upstairs to bath. A huge tantrum is followed by crying and a refusal to bath. Only the last two nights resulted in a calmer conclusion to bath time. At least going to bed is easy these days.

Then, of course sleeping is an issue once again. C wakes up every night! Most nights he then wakes his brother and that is when the real (not) fun start. We are exhausted. As from tonight we are trying the mattress method - a small mattress in our room that they can come and sleep on when they get scared. At least, I hope it results in only one and not both awake.

But we shall persevere - I live in total hope that one day we will have 3 content kids . As you may have noticed I did not mention the Lil Miss here simply because she is just so happy, so helpful and so sweet. Believe me, she has her moments, but in general, she is a joy. Maybe, some day, 3 will be a joy. Until then, I will take a good night's sleep as a consolation price.

Exhaustion!

I have lots of good things to tell you, positive things, but today I am tired. Completely and utterly exhausted. It has been a long long year and we have not slept well. Hec, I thought by the age of 3 the boys would have slept better. Now, after a few nights of good sleep, I think we have the start of the dreaded night terrors. We have had two nights where each of the boys woke up, clearly shaking with fear and screaming. I will try the same homeopathic stuff we did with the Princess and see if ti helps. But I am not hopeful. Nope. Every time we think we win the sleep war, it seems it was only the battle.

I have an old bookclub friend that is now pregnant with twins. In fact, the poor girl really has her work cut out for her - she will have one of 33 months, one of 15 months and new born twins. That's one 15 month old we didn't have! She asked me what was the hardest of the twin pregnancy. Without a doubt for me the extreme tiredness. The total lack of the second trimester energy. And when she asked what was the hardest about having twins, my answer was clear and simple - sleep! It's just double the amount of wakings per night at any stage. Adding to that the fact that they are "tuned into" each other and tend to wake up when the other does, does not make the issue any simpler.

Although in no way do I wish my boys bigger or to miss any stage of cuteness, I do wish we can get to sleep a bit. I mean, for them it will certainly be better too.

The weekend that was.

Another weekend has flown by in the wink of an eye - or so it seems. It was a very very hot one in our little corner of the world and I am sure that the heat contributes to the kids not on their best behavior at times.

On Friday evening we went to our local Spur for dinner with the kids. Little man L has now at last discovered the trampolines and it makes for a more relaxed dinner. After that Hunter left to do an anti-poaching patrol in the Pilansberg park - doing his bit to try and protect our rhinos. He had a lucky escape with a black mamba, but I am not even thinking about it or talking about it. The night proved to be one of our epic sleep failure nights - I think I need a tag for those. Gosh, it was exhausting - summarize to day I slept about 3 and a half hours in broken sleep (3 bits).

Saturday started with me cranky and tired taking the Princess to a friend for a play date and the boys with me for some essentials shopping. I found a great Duplo bargain (their special for the week) at the Lego shop for their Christmas present! Yeah for them (hopefully) still being small enough to hide a gift from them and buy it while they are with you. Hunter arrived back from the park at about 10:30 and at 11:00 we left the Boys in Lucy's care to go to a work related function at Aurelia's at Emporer's Palace. Me having slept very little and Hunter having slept not a wink, made a pretty tired couple arriving. But some gin and tonics, the relaxed atmosphere and great food did it's trick and we had a wonderful afternoon together - kids less and very relaxing. I loved it. The function was organized in the best possible way - no speeches, mingling if you want and the choice of a table just for us two if we wanted it. We really needed the one on one time together and it was just amazing. Needless to say it was an early evening to bed for us all. To be followed by a repeat of the night before - featuring Little man L at 2 am as the Duracell bunny.

Sunday morning Hunter let me sleep in after I did the night time duty and he spent some time with the kidlets. After breakfast I had some me-time - shopping for new gym shoes and going to gym. Returning home the family was busy giving the puppies a bath. I think the kids might have marginally enjoyed it a bit more than the dogs. This was followed by lunch and a nap for all (although Hunter and I both preferred to read). By then the clouds have packed into an impressive dark storm and plans for a walk was abandoned in favor of a braai.I can not describe the absolute relief of the cooler air and rain after the extreme heat of the day. To finish up the weekend we had the 6 weekly ordeal to cut the boys hair - it went better than expected and to top it all, every body slept through last night. Yeah! to the pharmacist that suggested it could be the cold medicine that is keeping L awake!

So what did you do this weekend?

Edited to add - I actually had a wasp sting me yesterday afternoon - gosh, it was sooo sore!

Makes my Monday - oh sweet slumber!

Playing along with Cheryl.

We had a great weekend for sleeping and this really really makes my Monday. On Friday afternoon the kidlets had a Bootcamp party (more about that tomorrow) and my word, did we have an early night with them. Literally to sleep the moment we had them in bed and slept through until 6:30. Bliss!

On Saturday The Boys had a nap while the Lil Miss and I were in the shops after her party and she had a nap as we got home. After some painting and outside play every kid in the house peacefully fell asleep and slept to 7 o'clock on Sunday morning. For recent circumstances (like a 5 am wake time) - a record!

After our party at Zita park yesterday we managed to keep the kidlets awake and make it home without a sleeper. After a 10 minute crying stint from an overtired Little Man L we all (and that includes Hunter and I) had an hour and a half nap. Some kidlets slept a bit longer. This is one of about a handful of occasions where we have ever managed this! And last night was our third sleep through in a row and Hunter and I actually woke up by ourselves without alarm clock or kids this morning at about 6.

I tell you, nothing but nothing like sweet sweet slumber.

Makes my Monday - yeah, daddy rules!

Playing along with Cheryl every Monday.

So the going to sleep saga continues....
We live on the highveld are in South Africa, famous for spectacular thunder storms (and scared kids). Friday night was a low point - after battling to get Little man L to sleep, he finally went down at about 9:45pm - way way too late. Just in time for me to catch the rugby (South Africa VS France) with the hubster, when a phenomenal thunderstorm hit us. Little man C was awake and hysterical - Little man L was so exhausted that he slept through it all. The result was me not seeing a minute of rugby and finally getting downstairs 10 minutes after the match ended - around 12:00 pm. Again, no time for mom and dad. At 3 am Little man C was awake again and at 5 am his brother was ready to go for the day. SO dear Hunter let me sleep and I woke up just in time to catch my lift to go riding at 8 am. A definite low point.

On Saturday night we got home late from visiting friends an it took the boys about half an hour to fall asleep - at last a bit of time for us.

But last night Hunter thought he'd give it a go with the Boys and I read to the Lil' Miss. I tell you, wonders never stop. 5 FREAKING MINUTES! He could actually put the to bed and leave the room and join us for storeys, like we always used to do. What is this? Is it ok to terrorize mom for hours but for dad, we'll do it in minutes! I was shocked. Let's hope this is the start to a better routine - and now I am convinced that my little trip is really the right decision. This really makes my Monday.

Ugh!

Today I want to feel like a little girl again - you remember when you told you mom that you are just feeling crappy and she would hold you, put you in bed and feed you chicken soup or a toasted cheese sandwich with tea? And just tell you that everything would be ok? I need that today.

I feel horrible - and I can not really explain why or what is wrong. Earlier today I felt nauseous (no I am not pregnant) and had a headache. I have since eaten something and taken some pain tablets, but I still feel shaky, tired and edgy. I am stressed at present, but it can not be that alone. I know how to deal with stress.

So of course, the worry start, adding to work stress I already carry around. South Africa is experiencing the biggest measles outbreak in decades - all my kids are inoculated, but even the kids that were are getting it.Apparently a faulty dosage of vaccine is the culprit and now it is spreading fast. I never had it as a child although my mom had me play with sick friends etc. I therefore presume that I have the necessary immunity. My mind though, is playing tricks on me. On Saturday at the farewell, our buddy little Keagan had a rash - to be confirmed as measles later that day. I can not be upset with his mom, he has frequent eczema, so it was easily confused. But I do worry - about the kids more than myself. But I worry.

Waking up at 5 am and only getting the chance to eat at 8 am at work could add to the problem. Our little monsters are now sleeping through - consistently, but the pay-off is a waking up time of 5:10 am. Getting them to bed later at night does not change this time - we have tried. You can set your watch to Little man C. Trying to get them into our bed for an extra little nap is really a waste of time and frustration. Much more realistic is taking them downstairs, switching on the electronic baby sitter (aka Barney), getting their milk and a snack and trying to get a few minutes of shut eye on the couch, have some coffee and something to eat, maybe. This morning it was not to be. Little man C was just cranky and crying the whole time. Seriously, to shower and dress was almost not an option. Hunter says to let him cry and do my thing, and yes, I know he is right in suggesting that, but the crying just gets to me. And he sets of the other two.

The poor kid (and Hunter) has bronchitis - I hope both will start to feel better today as Hunter has a trail this weekend and I would not like his bronchitis to get in the way of him doing something he really enjoys. And I hope I feel better tomorrow.

The thing about sleep....

I mentioned to Hunter last night that I am under no illusion that we have won the war, but I think we have certainly canned the battle. Yes, we have been sleep training. And yes, it seems, for the moment to be working. It has been tough, it has been tiring, but I know it will be worth it.

I am sticking my head out here and admitting that yes, I am a Baby wise mom - I know it is controversial, but it works. I truly believe that all children are capable to sleep through the night from an early age. I did however combine the principles of Babysense which I found very useful as a guideline to create the correct sensory environment. Currently I am using Toddlersense as a guide - both of these are South African in origin but available on Amazon and I can really recommend both. I also believe that some children are naturally good sleepers and some not. Some will consistently sleep through the night and some you'll have to teach.

When I was pregnant with The Little Miss a colleague told me about Baby wise - his baby was 5 months old and they were sleeping through consistently. I knew that I could handle most of what a baby will bring as long as I can have a decent night's sleep - so we decided to use Baby wise. I copied my tables, prepared myself to do it from day 1 and decided to let baby sleep in her own room right from the start - we made sure we had an Angelcare monitor to be safe.

The very first night of The Little Miss' life, the staff at the hospital woke her up after 3 hours - she refused to wake up enough to drink. It was terrible. Breastfeeding not well establised, baby not awake enough resulted in much abused nipples. The following morning the Pedi was furious with the staff - she was 3,45 kg (7,6 pounds) baby - big enough to do a 5 hour stretch. But she developed extreme jaundice and day 4 and 5 of her life was spent in hospital after my release ( I boarded in with her) and the struggle with a lethargic baby and feeding was frightening and very stressful. But once back home, we settled into the Baby wise routine - 3 hour feedings (but altered if required between 2 and a half and 3 and a half) and a pattern of sleep, feed and play. I Also made sure that she had a full feeding every time, keeping her awake with a wet facecloth if needed. So, from night one at home (5 days old), she had her last feed at 10 pm( which I woke her up for) and I set my alarm clock for 3 am and had a good sleep. Often I had to wake her up at 3 am, and at 6 weeks I could not wake her up any more - she slept on until 4, later stretching to 5 and by 12 weeks she had a solid sleep, almost all nights between 10 pm and 6 am. She dropped the 10 pm feed at about 15 weeks when I could not wake her up any more.

Apart from teething and when she was sick, she has consistently slept through up to today. There might be the odd occasion when she wakes up at night and yes, she did her fair share of pajama drill when The Boys were tiny, but she remains a champion sleeper. We dealt very easily and effectively with night terrors ( lasted about 3 weeks) with the help of a homeopathic remedy. In terms of sleep - she was a breeze. And up to today, she prefers sleeping in her own bed. Off course, the fact that she is one of the healthiest kids I know of, certainly helps.Now I know she is just naturally a good sleeper.

I was therefore so certain that we had this sleep thing all sorted out and that with my next baby I will follow the same pattern. Even when we found out it was twins the small chapter about twins in Baby wise assured me we will be ok. And lo and behold, we were. Although smaller and feeding every 3 hours around the clock for the first 8 weeks of their lives, Little Man L slept his first night through at 10 weeks and Little man C joined him a week later. They did exactly what the book said. Until they got sick and then landed in hospital at 6 months and just stopped sleeping! It took us a couple of weeks, but we fell back into routine. Through the months, we often had long periods of good sleep, but now and again the problems popped up. They are just not naturally good sleepers like their sister. But Little Man C seem to have settled into a good zone and he is consistently a good sleeper - if he wakes up a pat or two and a loving word will put him back to slumber land. The last two months has been very hard - Little man L definitely lost his sleep pattern and us taking him into bed with us when he was sick (constantly for 2 months) without a doubt did not help. So we decided to start with sleep training and after studying my favorite books decided on a method mentioned in Toddler sense. (We did try the cry -out method but I does not work for us - Little Man C got so disturbed it was terrible).

So I started last Monday night by standing next to him and patting him when crying, but NOT picking up and definitely NOT taking him to be with me. Monday night was tiring, I slept very little. He woke up at 11:30 and I patted again and moved about a meter away from the cot, where I curled up under a blanket on the floor. Took me 2 hours, but eventually he was asleep again and I move back to bed. We repeated this at 3 am. Tuesday night he woke up at 1am and I moved away further from the cot, but still in his line of vision. Took almost 2 and a half hours, but he did fall asleep in his own bed and did not wake up again. Wednesday night it was 3 am and I moved away further from his cot. Thursday night he woke up at 4 am and only fell asleep again by 5 am but I got into the bed their room outside his line of vision but where he can hear me. By this time I was exhausted and constantly cold - remember it is mid Winter here and our homes are not heated (although The Boy's room is slightly). The turning point came on Thursday night and he only woke up at 5 am on Friday morning and I stayed in the doorway if their room until be fell asleep at 6 am again. Saturday morning he slept through and woke up at 6 pm and as a reward he got to play in our bed. Saturday night was another winner and he only woke up at 6:40 am.

Off course, just as you thought you have it in the can, you get Sunday night, which was a terror with him waking up his brother and me spending half the night talking to him from the bed in their room. But Monday night he fell right back to sleeping through as well as Tuesday night. Last night I feel made the big breakthrough - he woke up at 3 am and I just gave him a pat and a word (like I do with his bro), and he went right back to sleep. So, for now, I think we won the battle. Off course, he might proof me wrong tonight, but I will just continue with the training because it seem to work, it is a kind and gentle method and I feel comfortable that I am not scarring my kid for life. And although it might get tiring at times - the end result will be great, I know. Because although only 2 of my kids are naturally good sleepers, I WILL learn the other one to be too.

Goodnight - sleep tight my dears. I hope I will.

Hi jacking in progress!

Hi all fellow kiddos. We are hi jacking mommy's blog today to bring you the exciting new game called "tag team sleep" we devised last night. It works best if you have the following in place:

• A sibling for partner in crime - works best if you are a multiples but can work if you are relatively close in age.
• The coldest night of the year in an unheated South African home - our room is heated, mommy's and the passage - nope, icy at best.
• A terrible wind blowing outside (good excuse for you)

It works as follows - between the two (or 3 or 4) of you discuss before hand who will take which shift - it works best if you leave a 15 minute period for mommy to actually fall asleep between sessions - that way it is worse if she has to get up again. The take your turns regardless of how tired mommy gets. Start at bedtime with one of you not doing the usual easy go to sleep routine and then move on through.

How you score points:
You get a point a minute mommy doesn't sleep.
Mommy gets a point a minute she sleeps.
You score 30 bonus points for the following:

• She falls asleep on the carpet in front of you cot - off course you will wait 20 minutes or so after which you will restart the game.
• She is wet because the humidifier blew on her the whole time.
• She has a sore throat when she wakes up after the 3 hours of sleep we offered form 3:30 am when it was game over.
  

You score an extra 90 bonus points and immediate win if she gives up and takes you into the bed in your own room with her - that means daddy is sleeping alone for a whole night.

Mommy scores 30 bonus points every time she pats you back to sleep without having to pick you up. She scores 180 bonus points and an immediate game over if you all fall asleep before 1:30 am and sleep till morning.

Great game guys - try it tonight or any other night just after mommy thought she had a sleep problem sorted out and please come and tell us how you scored. We scored a whopping 370 point over mommy's 180 and and an immediate game over at 3:30 am. Great fun.

Now if we could only get or sister to join in , we can do the whole night - but she is Miss Goody tow shoes and slept right through as always. Whuss!

See yah
The Boys

Barely hanging in there...

Hunter fell asleep behind the wheel driving to work this morning. And he is sleeping more than I am at present. He studies until 1am or so and then sleep to 6. Last night was particularly hairy - 4 hours from ( pm to1, nothing after. Even taking him into be with me, nothing! We have prayed, we have medicated, we have used all the natural remedies I can think off - I am going to look for Debi's melatonin.... And I am taking him to the paediatrician, just to make sure the nurse didn't miss anything. Although he seems very healthy. Thanks you all for your encouragement and love.

I just have to report on last night...

Mom: went to bed at 10:00 - slept until dad came home from study group at 11:15. Said hallo to dad. Total sleep time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Mom: Went back to sleep. Woken up by Little man L at 12:30. Total sleep time: 1 hour

Little man L: Went to sleep at 7:00 woke up at 12:30. Total sleep time: 5hours 30 minutes.

Mom: tries to sleep but gets woken up 9 times until 4:30

Little man C: Went to sleep at 7:00 woke up at 4:30 due to Little man L's crying. Total sleep time: 9 hour 30 minutes.

Mom puts both boys in bed with her - chaos ensues. Put both back into cribs - miracle they sleep.

Mom goes back to sleep at 4:45 and alarm clock goes at 6:00 - Total sleep time: 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Nap time today: Both boys sleep 1 and a half hours - mommy 's working! Mom's total sleep time (very interrupted) 3 hours 30 minutes.

Something is just not fair. (I have to come up in Hunter's defence - as my contribution to his studies I am taking night duties for the next 3 weeks - so I am probably going to be a zombie after these 6 weeks.) I am starting to forget work things....

What about calling all the prayer warrior please?

4 is so the best age ever!

I am really enjoying my little girl at the moment. 4 is such a great age! There are so many things I am loving about her right now.

Her imagination runs wild at the best of times. She keeps herself busy for hours with literally nothing. Just yesterday she was busy baking a cake in the sandbox with a pail, some spades, leaves, flowers etc. This followed on watching Nigella with mommy and declaring that she wants to be a chef just like Nigella. Yeah, I'd also love to be Nigella. Just tonight her career choice changed in the bath to being a pharmacist - someone that can mix medicine with bathwater and shampoo. These are off course following Wonder woman and a "police girl" after the theme for school last week was "people that help us". We have also been through phases of being a veterinarian (after visiting the vet with one of the pups), a hairdresser after her visit to mine and off course, the now famous Dr Barbie. I love how sometimes we are a family of crocodiles (from baby broter crocs, to little girl crocs and mommy and daddy crocs) and sometimes a family of panda bears, or whatever catches the imagination at the time.

I just love it that she is trying so hard to help mommy sometimes, even if she gives up soon. I love it how she knows when mommy is sad and daddy is tired - as long as she is not tired, she is the perfect little helper. Sometimes her insight is way above what we believe a child of her age should be - she understands when things are tough, on a instinct level she tries to help.

I can not get enough of the little girl hugs and kisses. I can not get enough of the dressing up and princess stuff and I certainly can not get enough of her hiding and surprising me around the house every day and the hugs that follows. I also wishes that she would come and cuddle more often in our bed in the mornings.

She loves her room and her bed and play on her own. She is surprisingly neat in her own way - she packs things away in containers, maybe not how I would group them, but in some sort of way she has some order installed. And she keeps it mostly intact. She gets hugely upset if a visiting friend or her brothers makes her room untidy. And I love how she is all interested in make-up and hair and all sorts of feminine finery.

Her independence and her clear ideas on choice really thrills me (although sometimes is a more negative than positive way). This little girl really knows what she wants. She amazed me yesterday about how clear and precise she chose when I took her clothes shopping. How she reasoned what top to wear with what bottom and choosing and not complaining when she had to decide which to leave and which to buy. And a poncho works just as well as a skirt.

Her "remember when" game is such a joy - she "remembers" things like - "do you remember when I was born you wanted a little girl just like me?" to yesterday's special lunch or Fridays ingredients of her lunch box. She definitely has her daddy's great memory.

I am so glad that God blessed us (and me particularly) with our little girl. She is such a joy. We are going to be great girlfriends one day, well maybe we are already.

And in other news, we have not been sleeping for 3 weeks - that's now me and Little man L. Any ideas? I am today cutting down on his nap, adding an iron supplement and hoping for the best. Failing which, cry out??? Anybody tried it, did it work?