Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Happy days...

This could very well be a prematurIe celebration, but I'm at the point where every little bit makes me happy.  The monsters have released my little man, and sleep is starting to return to the household.  Yeehaaaa!  This has translated into a very happy little bear and an even happier Mommy.  I wish I could tell you that I discovered some genius solution for why my toddler has suddenly started sleeping again, but it remains a complete mystery.  At this point so many things were at play creating a perfect storm of issues resulting in insomnia and sleep deprivation.  Potty training somehow triggered nightmares, which started a fear of the dark, and translated into restless wakenings.  Believe it or not, we went from having the room be almost bright as day with night lights, to regressing into complete darkness again.  I started to realize that the "I'm scared, mommy" call was simply little r's way of telling me he didn't want to be in bed and was ready to play.  Manipulation is a powerful tool when it pulls at your heart strings, and when it has to do with fear, it's hard to tell your toddler he really isn't scared at all.

Somehow it all came together though and has gone full circle.  He's even asking to use the toilet.  Not much going on in that category, but at least the little guy isn't afraid of the toilet anymore.  Thank God for small miracles.  I was afraid we were looking at a year of toilet nightmares and dirty diapers, and I was NOT looking forward to any of that.

I also started to realize that he was getting bored during the day.  Let's face it, I'm not the most interesting cat in the room, and my toddler isn't the first person to make that determination.  I have many Mommy and wife things that need to get done throughout the day, which often translates into not being able to play with trains every solitary second like little r wants me to.  Our apartment is a really comfortable place to live, but these walls get old for a toddler whose brain is growing in warp speed.  Turns out the best recipe for sleep was Christmas - a little sugar crash and new toys wore the kid out and he slept until 7:30 a.m. the next day.  Not sure it's a good idea to feed him cookies and give him new toys every day, but it was a perfect Christmas gift for a worn out Mommy, let me tell you.  I'll take that any time he's willing to dish it out.

And then yesterday we made an even better discovery!  An indoor water park just 10 minutes from home. Bamberg recently opened its new Schwimbad called Bambados.  It has been heavily promoted and we were anxious to try it yet never seemed to make it over there.  We finally took little r yesterday and what an awesome place.  Little r was in heaven, and I found a new destination to add to our weekly routine to get exercise and have fun.  It's time for little r to tap back into those swimming genes he has undoubtedly inherited from Big R's side of the family.

Needless to say, the perfect storm has started to dissapate, and I am working on creating a more regular routine to help keep that growing mind in little r's head engaged so that he sleeps more soundly.  So far it's working, and I'm sure I could use some more structure in my life as well.  Hopefully this will calm my sanity until kindergarten starts - it's only a month away!

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