Who’s in control.

Am I in control of the 3 year old, or is he in control of me… and his dad, and his brothers… and his grandparents?

I am not too sure what is happening these days, but it seems like I am constantly having a battle with my eldest son. He has basically stopped listening to what I say… It seems to literally go in one ear and come out the next!

Is it the age? Is it having siblings? Is it the changes? Is it the new room? Is it me? Am I starting to lose the game?

The so-called terrible two’s was not so terrible… He was a pretty well behaved kid. Very sweet, very thoughtful, and he listened to me! Now, at almost 3 and a half… its like he is the total opposite… now, he’s his father’s child, I guess…

It seems like all I have are questions now… how do I? How do I re-gain control? How do I get him to listen? How do I do it without losing my mind? And without getting addicted to chocolate?

At least he has his moments, when he says to me “mummy, I really appreciate you”… And I guess that’s how we survive parenthood!

Two rooms please.

Sharing? Caring? Now that they are roommates, I wonder if I’ll start to see that brotherly love?!

My husband has a theory that if they are sharing a room that they would start to share their toys, and stop being so possessive of everything… I guess there is a reason that he’s not a psychologist. This morning both boys were fighting over the baby… AGAIN! “HE is MINE”, no “HE is MINE”!!

Well, there has been some changes… sometimes they put away their toy… which is better than never, and sometimes they play together QUIETLY, and most importantly, they have a place to go when I need some time alone!

The preschooler got up almost every hour last night, calling his dad because he was too scared… he ended up sleeping in our room… While the toddler, amazingly enough, was able to spend the entire night in his bed, in his room, and still managed to wake up everyone at 7AM!

My independence.

Kids moved out!

After being pro co-sleeping for 3 1/2 years… 2 days ago, I moved my kids into their own room! I guess that there were several reasons for the move, mainly because I think that with 3 kids in the room, no one was getting enough sleep.

My eldest son actually wanted his own room! He is so excited about it… he is slightly spooked in the night when we tuck him in, but he sleeps there all night. The toddler is still unsure about the whole situation, at sleepy time he says “my room… mummy bed” So he is falling asleep in our bed and being carried over to his own… and he still ends up in our bed before morning time.

The newborn still shares our room, but now his crib is on the opposite side of the room, as opposed to being jammed up against my side of the bed… I think he might be crying for a bit longer now…

I feel lonely without them in the room… sad that I can’t see them from my bed… scared because I don’t know if they are ok… And they are just down the hall, what happens when they move out of the house?!

Would this new arrangement give us more sleep? After all… that is our main goal!

The best part though, has to be saying “go to your room!”

My toddler.

My ‘almost’ 2 year old is ‘almost’, ‘almost’ 2 years old! He is growing into his own, he is so funny. He totally defies me, telling me ‘NO’ for just about anything, but on the other hand he would surprise me with the occasional “OK, mummy”…

Routines are how I manage 3 kids, and part of my routine is to get them all to nap at the same time. Today, the room was quiet; the newborn was sleeping on my chest, the preschooler on his bed… As I was watching the toddler, he sits up in his bed and starts singing so loud that he wakes up his brothers. He sings for exactly one minute, then goes back to sleep…

Toddler-hood is an interesting time… For both toddler, and mom!

He is the happiest… although he constantly falls and bumps into things, he is the most thoughtful… although his brother is a bit of a bully with him, and he is the most analytical… although he is not even 2 yet! He can take anything apart… investigate it… then put it back together!

Watching kids grow up… one of the joys of parenting…

Pavlov’s kid.

No, this post is not about the child of Pavlov, instead it is about the theory of the scientist named Pavlov and how I am using it to train my son.

My toddler is still having a hard time sleeping in his own bed, every night it seems like he comes into bed with us, he is even in our bed when its time to drink his milk… So, my husband’s bright idea is to hold the milk bottle over his bed! It sort of works… I guess… He comes to his bed, finishes his milk, and then comes back to our bed! I am not sure if that was the desired effect?!

The bottle is already associated with bedtime in his mind, so the plan was to form an association with the bottle and his bed, which would lead to his mind automatically forming the association between bedtime and his bed… or so the theory goes…

I guess that a toddler defies all logic…

Back in our bed last night… having territorial fights with the newborn, who occasionally end up in bed with me. when I forget to put him back in his crib from feedings I am not sure what else to try; I am thinking that its just a phase.

At least no one is fighting to get in bed with my husband!