What part of 'be quiet' does a two and a half year old not understant?
A significant part of it, it seems to me. Here's how it all went down ...
It was time to put Marty down for his first nap. I told Max what I was doing and what I expected of him while I was with Marty. (Stay away from the door, don't talk to me, and be quiet. And no whining. Please.) As I've already told you, Marty is really clingy right now and is frustratingly difficult to settle for sleep. I nursed him until he seemed satisfied and was about to bring him up for a burp when Max appeared in the crack in the door, crying, whining and being loud about his broken Elmo camera. The interruption immeditely captured Marty's attention and he kept looking at the door. I shoo'ed Max away and then had to nurse Marty to settle him again. Max was playing quietly on his bed. Just as I got Marty to the magical moment of contentment, Max fell off his bed. Of course the ensuing wailing distracted Marty again. I mustered up a little bit of compassion and dealt with Max's fall and asked him again to play quietly while I tried once more to get the baby to sleep. It went great ... until Max slipped backwards off the couch and fell tummy/face/forehead first onto the nice new hard laminate floor. Thankfully, Marty was so intoxicated with the sleepy juice that this third distraction didn't register with him. Ah. Then he slept for about 2 hours.
When it was time to send Max off to bed he claimed he d idn't need a nap. Ha! Off to bed he went. And now I've finally got Marty settled for nap #2. The house is quiet and the kitchen floor is mopped! I DID get something accomplished today. A girl from youth is coming over this afternoon to play with my ... sleeping ... boys . We'll visit for a while and then she can play with them when they wake up. Paul's coming home to make supper for us all and then head off to youth group.
Time to put the kettle on. Do I want to watch Rachael Ray today? We'll see.
You ARE a "Real Mom"! ;)
ReplyDeleteMarin went through a stage to where the only way to get her to sleep was to nurse her too. I do not look forward to the second time around when she is the big sister doing what Max did to you today.
Thank goodness they are only stages!
P.S. that was me who deleted my comment I had typed the same word twice. :)
Another reminder that I should be grateful to still be in the "easy" stage of having two!! I hope you really enjoyed your quiet time!!
ReplyDeleteI just got caught up on your last 3 blogs. I got fatigued just reading about your recent days (and nights). Most young children seem to thrive on routine, and often respond in negative ways when out of their routine. The boys have been away from their familiar enviroment and sick as well - no wonder they are having a difficult time. So here's hoping and praying that your days ahead will be better. You're a great mom, Rachel. Some day your children will "rise up and call you blessed"!!
ReplyDeleteOh the joys of having two kids! I hope you get Marty's sleeping thing figured out - sleep issues are SO frustrating!
ReplyDeleteyou're my hero. the thought of two kids sometimes freaks me out. sometimes one seems quite enough! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the eye-opener to life with two.. oh boy!
ReplyDeleteI think your two-year-old understands the meaning of "be quiet," it's the duration that is the problem. You meant longer than 30 seconds?
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