Thanksgiving….for Sleep, Glorious Sleep

We had a very quiet Thanksgiving this year – and it was exactly what we needed. Although we missed seeing all the extended family in S. Ontario, we knew that we should stay home this year. For one thing, Steve and I are so bagged it would probably be unsafe for us to drive long distances. The main reason, however, is that the lovely Miss Charlotte does not take well to leaving her house.

You see, we’re actually seeing some progress on the sleep front, and we didn’t want to rock the boat. Her night terrors have basically stopped – thank God. She is now waking only once between 7:30 and midnight (and it is minor); and then she is up at midnight, 3:30 and then for the day around 7:00 or so. That, my friends, is a ‘good’ night of sleep in our house. If we disturb her world, however, (i.e. by traveling, going out, or if she gets sick), then she reverts to: night terrors between 7:30 and midnight; up every hour or so the rest of the night; and refusing to fall back asleep unless she is held. (or some combination thereof). Oh, and let’s not forget the puking brought on by the hysterical crying and/or coughing fits. (Man I would love to know why this kid has such a weak gag reflex.) It is a dark, scary world of sleep deprivation and multiple clothing changes.

Thus we spent Thanksgiving at home, and it was a good thing. The weather was stunning, 20C and sunny. On Saturday we spent the day at my parents place. We went for a walk along the river in the morning, napped and took a trip to the park in the afternoon, and then had an early dinner with Aunt Jacqui and Uncle Steve.

And then, the best part of the weekend…for me at least. I stayed overnight at my parent’s place. Notice I said I. That’s right, Steve and the girls went home and I hunkered down in the guest room (aka my old bedroom) and got eight wonderful, amazing hours of uninterrupted sleep. My oh my it was lovely. Charlotte had a typical night at home, but with no vomiting, so it was a decent experience for Steve as well.

Sunday morning I went back home and was able to hug the girls and tell them that I missed them, and actually mean it. It is quite incredible how some rest can change your perspective. I have plans to go back for more nights, and I’m thinking of bringing some other sleep-deprived mom friends with me. It will be like the ‘sleep overs’ of my childhood days, but with a slightly different slant. We will actually sleep!!

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out enjoying the sunshine. With all the kid activities cancelled because of the holiday, it was great just to have no agenda. No mandarin school on Saturday, no swimming lessons on Sunday, no dance class on Monday night……just sunshine and leaves to jump in.

Now, as you can see from the photos, Charlotte was not much for leaf jumping. By Sunday she was not in the mood for much at all. The poor kid caught another nasty cold, so between the constant stream of snot running down her face and the coughing fits, she was not having the best time. I am starting to mentally prepare for what I think will be ‘the winter of our discontent.’ The winter that AJ was 1 year old and I went back to work, she was sick every 2 weeks. Essentially, she would recover from one virus and then the next one would start. As this will be Charlotte’s first exposure to all the strains of Canadian cold and flu viruses, it is going to be a doozy.

And we’re ready for it!! Have I told you that we now have a designated ‘puke towel’ on the floor of her room? Yep, we got tired of running to clean up vomit all the time, so now we put the towel down every night and when it looks like she is going to barf we go stand on the towel and tilt her forward so that any vomit headed for the floor ends up on the towel. This makes clean up is quick and easy….you just strip off Charlotte’s clothes, your own clothes, wrench her blankie from her hands and throw them into the middle of the towel (which is already covered in puke). Then you gather up the whole stinking mess and deposit it in the laundry room to be dealt with in the morning. Aren’t we clever? Necessity really is the mother of invention.

OK, now that you are totally grossed out (but impressed by our ingenuity), I’ll leave you with some cuteness. AJ decided she wanted to be a unicorn for Halloween this year, so that was easy, but we had really been struggling with what to do for Charlotte. I mean, it is not as if she cares, but we have to have the requisite cute photos for her to gaze back at later in life. We were at a local consignment store to get Charlotte a ride-on toy, and lo and behold there was the perfect costume – a baby unicorn!! I snapped some photos already because there will likely be too much excitement Halloween night. Now the real challenge…..AJ says she wants a unicorn family…..so Steve and I have to find some unicorn gear for ourselves. Pictures may or may not be available….: )