Travels with Toddlers

This is my new Indian name. Having braved a cross-country red-eye flight (followed by a 1.5 hour drive) with a toddler. Of course, I wasn't alone, I had my trusty side-kick Diesel and my sister and her 8 month old daughter, but still. It is a pretty major accomplishment!

Ready to Fly

Little Man slept for about 90% of the flight, which really helped. Thanks to my "dirty hippie" toddler sling, he also slept the whole way off of the plane, down to baggage claim and out to the car.

"Dirty Hippie" Mama

We borrowed the CARES harness from a friend, and I have to say it is a pretty neat little contraption. Little Man didn't really like it, but I think that was more a product of exhaustion than anything else. It was nice to not have to lug the carseat in the plane, but to have the security that Little Man was strapped in securely!

Note the less than thrilled expression

Overall, it was a successful flight. I'm pretty impressed with our little traveller man!

Daredevil

Today we had toddler gymnastics. At the end of class they let the toddlers come down to the main gym & jump into the foam pit. The other two children in Little Man's class are content to jump from the mats that the instructor, Miss Amanda, puts IN the foam pit. Little Man likes this, but really wants to jump from the tall crash mat that sits on the edge of the foam pit.  We're talking about a 3 ft tall crash mat, plus a 1.5-2ft drop into the pit. Finally today we asked Miss Amanda if he could jump from it. Hesitantly, she said yes. She made Little Man's day! (Diesel made the video in slow-mo at the end, so it plays twice)

Finding a Virtual Home

Before I had Little Man I could never understand the people who formed friendships with people in an on-line chat room or board. In fact, prior to Little Man I'd have put "friendship" in quotes, scoffing at the idea that you could be friends with people you didn't even know.

When I got pregnant, I joined the May 08 birth board on Babycenter. I'd post here & there, but mostly I gathered information about child birth, rolled my eyes at the militant mamas and the clueless first-time moms, but in general I felt detached from it. It was more like a rapidly updating, occasionally hysterical Wikipedia for the expectant mother. Even as other moms were posting their birth stories, I refrained from posting mine. I didn't see a reason. My "real" friends knew my story.

Then, about 8 weeks after Little Man's birth, I was unhappily facing the prospect of returning to work in a few weeks. I was browsing through the May 08 board and noticed a post asking about other moms who were going to be pumping at work. I went in and posted, because here was a group of women who were agonizing over going (or being) back to work and trying to figure out how to squeeze (no pun intended) in time to pump at work so we could continue to keep feeding our babies breastmilk. It was like our own Milk Memos.

In the beginning our posts were largely about Amedas and Medelas and how to keep our supply up and the best methods for storing milk. We also tackled other issues facing new moms-- the sadness of not being home with our babies and how to get our babies on a nap schedule and the trials and tribulations of getting infants to sleep through the night.

Then as time passed, we started really talking-- about husbands and body image and funny things that happened to us at the grocery store. About health scares and pregnancy scares and speeding tickets and the crazy things our babies did.

Over the past two years this amazing group of moms has become a close-knit group of FRIENDS. Friends who know the minutae of the day-to-day; friends who send each other Christmas cards; friends who have comforted one another through losses; friends who celebrated new babies and new houses. We text each other, IM with each other, talk on a daily basis. Not friends in quotation marks, but real friends.

I don't know if I can even put into words how much these ladies mean to me, but they have become such an amazing source of love and support that I cannot thank them enough. So PAW mamas, thank you for everything!

Sleep Ninja

My mom is here for the week to watch Little Man. YAY!

This morning I went over Little Man's schedule with her and told her that I didn't care where she went with him, just as long as he got a nap around 1-2pm.  I told her that he doesn't nap out & about, so they'd probably have to come home for naptime so he could nap in his bed.

At 12:30pm I get this text:

"Little Man says sleepy time"

Are you KIDDING me??? 

I swear that he's like a little sleep ninja. Just when I think I know all there is to know about his sleep habits.. WHAM! Sleep Ninja strikes!!!

Bribery works!

I am not too proud to admit that we totally bribed our son to stay in bed yesterday! We promised him a trip to Target, complete with pretzel, lemonade and a toy, but only if he stayed in his bed the whole night. And he did, mostly.

He got up twice, but Diesel & I decided they were both good enough reasons so they didn't count against him. First, he came into our bedroom and said "Mama, room too hot. Jamas wet." His room was, in fact, VERY warm and his pajamas were, in fact, wet (he had spilled his water on them somehow). So I changed his pajamas, arranged the A/C to blow in his room, put him back in bed & reminded him of the deal.

30 minutes later I hear little feet. "Mama?" asked a little voice "Me go potty?" Any potty training parent knows you can't argue with that request, even when you know they're playing you, so up on the potty he went, did his business, new diaper and into bed.

I didn't see him again until 5 am! I call that a success!!!

As we were getting ready, Diesel thanked Little Man for sleeping so well and Little Man very matter of factly replied "Pretzel. Lemmyade. Toy."

For the Love of All Things Holy, GO TO SLEEP!!!!!!

So Diesel & I had the audacity to go on a 3 day weekend to Vegas & leave Little Man with his grandparents. I am now sure that he is punishing us for this.

For the last week and a half, my formerly easy to put to bed son has refused to sleep. REFUSED. Bedtime rolls around. The first sign of trouble looming on the horizon is when we get the request for "one more Georgie?" Repeated several times until hysteria sets in. "No, we watched one Curious George, it is bedtime. Time to sleep. We're going to read books." 

So we sit in the glider, in dim light, and read a few books. We sing the bedtime lullaby & into bed Little Man goes. Every night the same thing happens.

"Mama. Wah-tuh?"
"Daddy put your water in your bed. Here is Baby & Cozy."
"Daddy KISS!"
"Ok. You stay in bed and Daddy will come give you a kiss."
Diesel enters, gives kiss, says "Good night Buddy, I love you." and leaves. I say "Good night, I love you more than anything" and leave.

Usually this marks the beginning of quiet Mommy & Daddy time while our darling boy slumbers...  NOW, it means in 5 or so minutes we'll hear little feet creeping through our bedroom. A tiny, grinning face then appears in the doorway.

"Ni hao Mama. I wake up."
"No, sir, you did not wake up. You haven't gone to bed."
So I scoop him up, put him back into bed. Say good night & leave.
As I'm leaving, I see his little legs swing out of bed and he runs for the door. I scoop him up and wordlessly put him in his bed. Before I can step away, his little legs swing out of bed again and he's off. Again, I scoop him up and wordlessly put him in bed and start to leave.

Repeat this 4 million times for the next hour, but add in a screaming & crying two year old and a mama who is trying to keep from losing her temper.  Eventually, I give up and say "ok. Mama will sit in the chair if you stay in bed." Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't.

LAST NIGHT, however, takes the cake! 7:30 bedtime. I read, we sing, I put him in bed. Diesel laid in bed with him while I go on a run. I came back 30 minutes later & Diesel was still in there. I foolishly think "maybe they both fell asleep." In about 5 minutes I know how wrong I am. Little Man starts calling for me. I come in, say good night and leave. Diesel leaves.... Little Man shows up in our room 2 minutes later.
"Ni hao! I wake up"
I put him in bed, and because by now it is way past his bedtime I sit in the glider. Little Man meanwhile flops around on his bed like a fish, jabbering away. I'm doing my best to say nothing. He lays down and gets quiet. I move to sitting on the floor so I can stretch after my run. I hear his breathing getting slower & steadier, so I inch my way out of the room. I make it to the bathroom that adjoins our two bedrooms and Little Man sits bolt upright. "MAMA! I get toys!" he says as he slides out of bed & opens his cupboard & pulls out his steering wheel.

Oh sweet Jesus, give me strength.

I put him in bed, with his steering wheel and leave. For the next few minutes I hear "OH NO! Battery dead! Ah Gon sho li" (this is my, likely incorrect, romanization of my son's Mandarin. It means "Grandpa can fix it"). Then he toddles into our room, climbs into our bed and says "Me sleep Mama, Dada bed?"

Normally, this is a no-no, but it is now 9pm, I'm tired and I NEED him to sleep. I say "fine, but you have to lay down and sleep." For the next 30 minutes Little Man crawls under the pillows, turns on the lights, moos like a cow, takes of his pajamas and occasionally lays still. Finally we give up. It is time for the big guns.

We put him in bed, leave & lock the door behind him. 10 minutes of crying & knocking on the door commence. After that, Diesel goes in, puts him in bed. I come in give him kisses, say good night, Diesel leaves. I stay for a few minutes. Little Man starts snoring... All is right with the world.

Until 2:30 am...