School Holiday -- October 21, 2011

One thing I have had to get used to is the difference between the South Orange school calendar and the NYC school calendar. Who would have thought there would be school on Columbus Day? And October 21, a random Friday, was a day off! We took advantage by heading out for empanadas and an afternoon in a nearby park with our neighbors Sophia, Juliette and mom Liz, and our friend Nia.

Chris's Birthday -- October 18, 2011

We celebrated Chris's birthday with a family supper at home, complete with the Cannings and cupcakes!

Oh well

So I guess the angel choirs may have sung a tad too loudly, as Wendy woke up at 4 a.m., refused to come with me to the guest room to go back to sleep, and stayed awake for another hour wanting snacks and drinks and asking me random questions, none of which I can now remember as I was soooo foggy and exhausted. She didn't want me to lie down with her, so I was sitting next to her bed just so tired. I did get back to sleep for almost 2 more hours, but it's not a fun way to spend time in the middle of the night!!

Despite the interrupted sleep, the girls were off to school again happily this morning, and spent some nice quiet time drawing at the dining room table while they ate breakfast. Fer loves to draw and spends some time most mornings working on intricate coloring projects that she designs herself, and Wendy is enthusiastic on and off. She is presntly in an "on" phase as she is working with a friend from school on a project of designing fairy houses. I was pulled into the action to draw a swimming pool, a railroad dining car, a flower, a cupcake, a boot, and an apartment building for her to then decorate with her friend at Aftercare today. I am so thankful that the mornings have continued better.

And tonight the girls will be going on their second "date night" with Papi. With Chris's changed commuting schedule, he is not around for as much of the evening, so we are trying to find other ways for him to spend quality time with the girls. Last week they went to McDonald's, and while they assure me that tonight they are heading to Subway for some healthy food, I suspect McNuggets are on the menu again!

Cue the angel choirs . . .

. . . as we celebrate four consecutive nights of uninterrupted sleep! We began giving our little one a low dose of melatonin an hour before bedtime, after we consulted with our pediatrician about the sleep disturbances we were dealing with for the first 4 weeks of school. She had been waking up almost every night between 1 and 3 a.m. and coming to get me, and often in the process Chris and Fer would be up as well, and we would all be changing beds to accommodate needs for closeness and comfort, and all of us were suffering from ongoing loss of sleep. The first change I noticed with the melatonin was that it seemed easier for her to fall asleep, though for the first days of taking it she was still up in the middle of the night. But, for the past four nights, she has fallen asleep easily around 8 p.m. and stayed asleep for 10-11 hours. This has allowed me and Chris to have a little time to relax together and then to get a good night's sleep ourselves. What a difference!

I don't want to count on it, as it's important to roll with whatever comes down the pike, but it does seem that we are over the first major adjustment hurdle to their new school. Both girls are happily getting dressed and heading out the door with me to school in the mornings, we are hearing good reports from them daily about the different classes and activities at school and in aftercare, we have not had any major meltdowns or even low-grade episodes for almost 3 weeks now, and the general vibe at home has been much more peaceful and relaxed. It's not perfect (nothing is!) but even when we are dealing with rudeness or lack of cooperation, there's a different level of intensity. I have been blessed in the last week or so with more ability to shrug off the relatively unimportant stuff, and have been feeling much less stressed overall. I've even started eating regularly again! (The hard times of the first two weeks of school totally messed with my appetite to the point that I was just too filled with dread to eat much at all.) I think my more relaxed mindset probably translates to the kids feeling more relaxed as well -- "if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy," as the saying goes.

I'm sure we'll cycle back through difficult times, but it certainly is nice to have this breather.