the essence

Good Girls

It's been a bit now, maybe about a month, since we started sleeping Kate & Addison in the same room. We've had a LOT of improvement in the area. I do want to thank all of you for your bits of advice - the ones that echoed what was already in my heart was just to do it & they'll adjust!

It only took Kate a few days to get used to her new surroundings and once she's used to where she's at she goes to sleep right away. So, no more crying from Kate to bother Addison.

HOWEVER, it took a bit longer to break Addison from getting out of bed to see Kate. There's a hope chest between their beds which Addison would walk across to go see Kate. If she didn't do that & "obeyed" us by staying in bed, she'd entertain Kate with funny noises & jumping up & down & opening the blinds. I think Addison is finally over the whole going-to-see-Kate thing. One more problem gone.

I will admit, that I have pretty much given up on putting them to bed at the same time, though. The problem is that on the nights I work Ray tends to keep Addison up way past her normal bedtime playing after Kate has gone to bed. On the nights he works & I put them to bed I try to get them to bed at the same time. This is where the problem comes in.

Addison is now pretty well-behaved. The problem is Kate! She gets very excited when she realizes Addison is in the room with her & thinks that Addison will jump around & entertain her so Kate starts pulling down her bumper & laughing at Addison. All the while Addison is laying in bed with total self-restraint being a "good girl" complaining that Kate won't be quiet.

After working my nights until midnight & then getting up in the morning with the kids & just don't have the energy to deal with that! So, my compromise is keeping Addison up a little later. Kate falls asleep so quick anyway, it's not that big of a deal, plus sometimes she's ready for bed earlier anyway. It's also nice to spend a little quality time with Addison. Some nights I even put Kate to sleep in the pack 'n play in another room, put Addison in her room, & once they're both sound asleep I move Kate to the crib.

Anyway, the whole situation is alot less stressful now that it was just a couple weeks ago.

Speaking of my two girls, I love picking up the camera after I've been working & finding pictures that Ray has taken:





I also love walking into my room to see that little creatures have taken over my bed!



Time for some sleep myself, I must take advantage of not working a midnight shift.