SLEEP TIME!!

Good times are abound in Parker’s sleeping schedule, which makes things much happier for Mama and Papa Tots as well!  Parker has always been a pretty good napper / sleeper (like his mother), but he’s always had that late-night food craving (like his father) that wakes him up and turns him into that plant from Little Shop of Horrors until he gets fed.  So, a little over a month ago, we rolled the dice and tried to let him “work it out” on his own as opposed to his regular 3:30-4am feeding.  It did not work that well.  Hard nights for the little man, and hard on Treva and I as well – I apologize, in writing, for the numerous people I’m sure ran into me on a day where I had less sleep than normal – “my bad.”  So we took a break from the official Tiny Tots’ Training Camp over the holidays and restarted in late December.  And…IT WORKED!  Sort of. 

Ready for bed!!

I mean, the kid is still a tank that has to be gassed up with fuel on a regular occasion.  But now, he’s not setting his sleep schedule to that 3:30 feeding.  Sometimes he wakes up at 5am, some days at 5:45 or 6am, and even a few days sprinkled in there he’ll sleep until 7 or 7:30!  So, all in all, while still a work in progress, we’re trending in the right direction!  Nap schedules are similar – General Treva runs a pretty tight ship on his wake time, with scheduled naps at 08:30 hours, another around lunch-time, and then a little cat nap around 16:30 hours.  That third nap is starting to turn hit/miss – he still needs to sleep, but at times the duration leaves a little to be desired.  I think he’ll quit taking that nap within the month, which hopefully will make sure we can put him to sleep even earlier than his current bedtime is now.  Speaking of, special kudos to Lars and Shannon Johnson for being the first couple we’ve inconvenienced by forcing them to eat dinner when old people eat, just so we could be back to tuck PJT in.  Thanks guys!!

Sleep “style” is also changing – Parker is rolling over onto his belly to sleep now, so no more swaddling.  In fact, the first time he did it was in his Pack and Play over at Karen and Ernie’s place on New Years, and he lost his cool with the result – he was not happy!  Treva and I are talking about this all the time, questioning his to-belly movement since he’s not exactly a big fan of “Tummy Time.”  Yet, for whatever reason, he can’t seem to sleep on his back anymore, unless he’s really, really, really exhausted.  In addition, while he’s officially an Honor Student in rolling over to his belly (specifically the lean from his right side!), he can’t seem to figure out how to roll onto his back yet.  As a result, he gets pretty fired up on his belly, but can’t help but fall asleep in that position every single time we put him down right now. 

Other sleep quirks:  Still smiles like Bill Clinton at a Cheerleader Camp when we wake him up from his nap / sleep to keep him on schedule!  He’s usually pretty happy to see our smiling faces, I love that, one of my favorite things!  But, when he wakes up on his own and is starving…well, he’s less happy.  He also makes a lot of noise – still talks to himself, a lot of grunting and “argh’ing”…in fact, Treva asked me the other night as we were going to bed, if I was worried that a Pterodactyl may be eating our son at that very moment.  Oh, it’s no dinosaur, just a kid settling into Position A to sleep the night through!  He moves a lot too – when he does wake up early, circa 5am, he usually can put himself back to sleep…unless he’s wiggled his way to the top of his crib and his face is smashed against the end.  Sleeping with your face against a wood panel seems like it may be uncomfortable – Parker concurs.  Before he was belly-bound, he used to turn himself in circles.  We would put him down with his head facing north, we’d wake up in the morning and his head is facing South.  I’m pretty sure Olive didn’t move him…so that little wiggle worm continued to readjust through the night!

All in all, we’re seeing more good sleep days than bad sleep days, and that’s fun – still some bad days, like, I don’t know, YESTERDAY??  Regardless, more good than bad and we’re thankful for that!  Sweet dreams everybody, beware of those nursery carnivores out there!

dwt.