My little night terror

Sleep is such a wonderful thing...you should try it Finlay.

The summer has been filled with taking the kids out and about in order to tire them out for bed time. Since camping bedtime has been delayed to about 8.30-9pm and we all enjoy the longer sunny evenings. But I must say by the time 8pm comes around I am done in. The kids seem to have more energy than me. So there have been play dates at Quarry lake, mornings at Two Jacks lakes before I go to work, play dates in friends back gardens and evening bike rides to the park. But still nothing seems to get them to go to bed easier.
To top it all Finlay's sleeping habits have taken a turn for the worst since camping and he got used to having one of us sleep beside him. Now he is struggling to go to sleep by himself and then seems to scream out in the night with night terrors, which resulted in him preferring to sleep with us. This was okay while he slept....Last week was a full moon...and my son seems to be quite attached to lunar activity (as does the half of Canmore turning up to the ER)
After a usual busy shift, missing a break and working an extra hour, I roll home at gone midnight. Just about to lay my head on the pillow and boom he is screaming in his room. I check on him and he seems to be screaming in his sleep, so I leave him only to find that the next thing James has brought him into be wide awake. And wide awake he was until I couldn't take it anymore and succumbed to a jolly drive around Canmore at 0330 in the morning. 4 am we returned to the house only to have him wake up as I transferred him into the house.4.30 he eventually got to sleep in his own bed. The next thing I was aware of was a little voice in my dreams whispering "Mummy, Mummy is it morning yet", tapping my back. It took me a few seconds to realise that it was Heather bright as a button at 7am. So there my day began again. Keeping the kids busy and active before getting organised for work and another busy evening shift in the ER.
That evening I was very foggy and got home on time. Now that night Heather had a cold and from 11.30 kept screaming at the top of her voice from her room "Mummy I got a boggy".Up again with a tissue and a drink every 20 mins for about an hour before peace and quiet...Oh did I say the Q word!! ....Cue Finlay 0047 crying out. This time I go to his room and he is crying pointing to our bedroom. Done with that laddie!!! And he is not happy when I stay in his room with him. More screaming and crying until he gets worn out and I lay beside him until it is safe to move back to my bed 0300. Aahhh. Sleep...until 7am
Since then Finlay has cried during the night, times are getting shorter and I am not venturing near his room. He gets the picture and gets himself back to sleep.
So I am hoping that we are back on track with sleeping through the night.

Heather is in a morning camp this week from 9am-12 noon and she seems to love it, they have been swimming, doing crafts, making plaster of paris molds and going for nature hikes. I have been having one on one time with Finlay which I must say has taken some getting used to. I was all ready with the building blocks and some books, but be seems to enjoy playing independently. I thought that I would catch up on things with just having one around, but as usual, nothing has really got done!!!

Camping adventures

1st July Canada Day

As usual it is always good to celebrate locally on Canada Day. In Canmore the day starts early with pancake breakfast 3km, 10km and fun runs followed by music and a street parade.
This year I signed up for the 3km run pushing the two kids and Heather was eager to do the obstical course again. The runs started at 9 Am so we got there just in time for the start and then enjoyed the pancakes.

Finlay enjoyed the food and checking out the course terrain.

A good reward for a great effort by heather.

Then it was off to enjoy the parade.

Big toilet time!!!

So as you remember we had one successful poop in the potty and since then it has been touch and go as to whether we catch it in time. However I was deciding whether I have the time and effort to proceed with this, was wondering if he was really ready and how to proceed with this the best way for Finlay.

With Heather I went cold turkey with the diaper and introduced big girl pants, potty hat and sticker board and did not go back to diapers, even at night. However Heather was more verbal, easier to observe and I had a lot more time. With Finlay, he is a boy ( some say, slower to potty train) he does not verbalise and the only indication is the grunting at poop time and there is a lot more going on generally these days to focus on his needs.

Figuring the whole thing out.

Playing with the equipment.

I was reluctant to abandon the process, but not convinced the cold turkey treatment would work for Finlay. So I continued with the whisking him to the toilet every time he grunted and the first week he more often than not had pooped already and we flushed it down the loo. However in the last 5 days we has managed to come and get me and we go poop in the big toilet. He is so proud of himself and the reward for him is to flush the toilet as he shouts " Bye bye " to his poop.
So now he is in pull ups and we are working on his peeing. Today he has started to let me know that too, so progress has been made quicker than I had anticipated and it continues to get better. Soon he may be in those big boy pants.

Getting the hang of it now.