Final November Blog

So, the month is up and I actually made it. I wrote something for everyday this month. Sometimes it was incredibly short, like when I blogged from my iphone at Dulles Airport during our layover to Europe and others were, ahem, a little long-winded, but I found it wasn't nearly as difficult as I anticipated. Life had a way of creating blogging opportunities, or was it the other way around? Possibly a bit of both. Overall, it was a really fun experience, and I think the grandparents appreciated it the most! Living far away from our families is by far the hardest thing we do! This past month gave me back my "zeal" for blogging, and now that we are here in Vienna I am going to try to continue a fairly consistent blogging regime.

One of the things daily blogging made me appreciate were: comments. Thank you to those who did take the time to comment, emails or offering your own stories, I love stories! For the blogs that I read (and they are many) I do try to come up with a comment to leave for the writer. There are those times that I am a lazy reader though and fail to leave a comment. I think from now on I will be better at commenting. The "Google reader" which gives me a run-down of the blogs I read all in one spot has made it to easy to peruse the new entries and not ever visit the person's actual website therefore not leaving a comment.

Also, I appreciate those writers who have the courage to write about some controversial topics. As my friends and family know I am pretty "hippy dippy" in regards to a lot of areas of life, but would have a hard time writing about those issues for fear of offending someone or "being told off." Because I am so passionate and I have done lots and lots of research and am comfortable with my choices its hard for me to keep my mouth shut, therefore I avoid those topics all-together. So, to you out there, who do talk about the tough stuff, my admiration is great! Granted this blog is about our family and for those who cannot be near to feel a little closer, but still...an occasional heated discussion is always fun!

Jameson is STILL jet-lagged and the sleep deprivation is getting to him (and me). My mellow mellow son is melting down at the slightest thing. Bathes: Check, Dinner: Check, Pajamas: Check, Shoes: Check, Dad leaving: Check, Diaper change: Check, Not being allowed to eat ice cream for dinner: Check, Not following him to the family room when I am eating dinner: Check, Turning off a light: Check. Really, that was my night tonight and it went on and on. So, as I write Jameson is sleeping in his diaper (it wasn't worth the fight) and didn't get to sleep until 9:45pm because he was having a meltdown from when Kevin left at 8:00pm. He finally zonked out, and hopefully he will sleep through the night. My boy needs his sleep. His naps have gone by the wayside in our adjustment period which is a very bad thing, and I know as soon as I can get him waking up in the morning at a decent time, down for a nap at the perfect time bedtime will surely follow.

A frequent sight in our household recently

A little dramatics never hurt, right?

I am reading "The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers" By Elizabeth Pantley. This is the ONLY sleep book that I feel understands our needs, which is funny because I wasn't a fan of her first book targeted at babies. She has a WHOLE chapter devoted to night nursings/wakings, and since its up to preschool the assumption is that the child is in a "Big Kid" bed, which Jameson has been for months now. Jameson has always been on a strict sleep schedule, and the boy was an incredible sleeper his first 5 months of life...then we came to Vienna and he has been waking up twice a night ever since. Believe it or not most of the time it doesn't bother me. For the most part he is easy to get back down (nursing for a few minutes) but as we begin the end of our nursing relationship he will need to find other ways to get back to sleep. She has a lot of great suggestions and as a long-term nurser herself she understands that relationship and I have begun incorporating the suggestions into our routine.

On a completely unrelated-to-sleep-note, my great eater turned picky eater when we arrived back in the states has returned to his former great eater self (tonight being the major exception). All I keep thinking: is food really THAT bad in the states? Scary.

Bring on December!!