A List for Tuesday

5 Things I Hate Doing Alone
1. Going anywhere in public with Dutch
2. Grocery shopping
3. Eating at a restaurant
4. Going to sleep
5. Flying

5 Things I Love Doing Alone
1. Going to the movies
2. Shopping for books
3. Going to the library
4. Taking naps
5. Writing

Tiny Dancer

Dutch has been doing this dance where he bends his knees and shuffles forward and backward.  His hands are in fists and he rubs them together.  It's hilarious!

Also, his favorite movie used to be Cars (which he called Go), but now it's Toy Story (which he calls Buzz).  I'm grateful for this, because at least now I can rotate between Toy Story movies and don't have to watch the same one over and over and over and over and over again.  Seriously, I was this close to snapping the Cars DVD in half.

Favorite Picture Friday

Dutch, Christmas 2008

An Open Plea For Help

Dutch is not sleeping at night and it's beginning to be a huge problem.  He goes to bed between 8 and 10, depending on when we can get him to finally settle down.  We have a nighttime schedule that we follow every night, but, despite what the books say, this does not help him settle down.  Anywhere between 11pm and 2am he will wake up and come in our room where Chris has him lay down on the floor next to our bed.  This sometimes works for an hour or so, but usually Dutch is up and about all night.  I woke up this morning to find that he had used his rocking horse as a step-stool, climbed on top of the dryer and gotten into his fruit snacks and extra juice.  He had opened 4 of the 6 and drank a little from each of them.

All his nightly wanderings are starting to get to me.  Last night I literally could not wake myself up enough to get him because I've been so exhausted.  He finally goes to sleep somewhere around 5 or 6 and wakes up between 8 and 10.  Meaning I wake up between 8 and 10 too. I'm pretty sure the three of us have not gotten a consistent night's sleep all year long and it has to stop.  I can't Dutch proof my house entirely since he has figured out how to climb up (he can even get into the freezer now).

How can I get him to sleep through the night?  Any help is appreciated.  Short of drugging him I'm willing to try anything.

Some Catching Up

There's a lot of little things that I haven't blogged about, but I'll blog about all of them in one fell swoop.

Dutch is sick.  He has Fifth Disease, which sounds super-serious, but it's just a little virus.  It starts with cold-like symptoms and ends up in a rash on his face, chest, and in some cases the arms, but Dutch only has it on his chest and face.  It's uncomfortable, but not life-threatening or anything.  It can, however, be bad for pregnant women so I have to talk to my doctor about it today and see what I need to do.  I'm crossing my fingers I won't need a blood test because I HATE getting blood drawn.

Chris and I were talking about trying to potty train Dutch before the baby comes, but we didn't want to push him into doing it.  Then, the other day, he was in the bathroom and asked for help to lift up the toilet lid.  He only pretended to pee, but it's a great step in the right direction!  I'm just glad he's showing some interest in using the toilet.

His speech therapy is going both good and bad.  Bad because his behavior has been increasingly hostile at Abby's visits (not towards her, but towards the games themselves), but good because at Abby's last visit she brought Sue, a behavior specialist, who told us that there are two reasons kids throw tantrums: to avoid or for attention.  Dutch's tantrums are to avoid doing anything he's afraid he won't be good at or doesn't want to do. So we have a new plan in place for Abby's next visit.  In the meantime, Chris and I have been working really hard with him to use the words we know he can say.  He's doing great!

Sweetums is 18 weeks now and we'll find out the gender in 2 weeks on the 20th.  We're going to wait until Christmas to tell anyone though, so it will be a nice surprise!  I'm feeling good, but tired all the time.  My energy level is so low that I rarely feel like putting on makeup and doing my hair, but I make sure Dutch gets the bulk of my energy, and that's what matters.  Chris has been great about stepping up and taking over when he can tell I'm exhausted.

Speaking of Chris, his days are getting longer and longer.  It's hard not having a set schedule, but he's enjoying the work so I guess that's what matters.  He's contracted not to work more than 50 hours a week and he hasn't exceeded that, but some days it feels like it!  Especially when Dutch is being extra naughty (just like his cousin Evie).

We've decided to skip the trip to sit on Santa's lap this year since it was so traumatic last year.  Maybe next year he'll understand a little better and like him more.

Okay, I think that's everything for now.

Favorite Picture Friday

3 Mr Clean Magic Erasers and several hours later Dutch's walls, door, nightstand, bed and windowsill are now free from crayon, highlighter, pen, and chalk marks.

On a completely unrelated note: 

does anyone know how to get crayon off windows?

Happy Birthday Heidi!

This is Carianne with Heidi because I couldn't find one of just me and Heidi.  Just pretend Carianne is me.

Today my sister Heidi turns 30!  Heidi and I have always been close (except that brief time in high school when I was way too cool for family).  I can talk to her about things I can't talk to anyone else about.  We talk on the phone at least every week and, when she lives close enough, I try to see her every few months.

When I tell other people about Heidi I always say she's the nicest person in the world, but you still like her.  If my parents had been inclined they could have often asked me "Why can't you be more like Heidi?"  Because we all saw Heidi as being the most perfect one in the family.  But, again, we didn't hate her for it.  She's just too nice for you not to love.

We had lots of bizarre adventures together, like the time we drove all the way to Richfield only to realize we'd forgotten our money.  And Christmas Eve Heather and Heidi and I would all sleep in Heidi's room (because hers was the only clean one).  We had a lot of the same friends and I didn't mind hanging out with Heidi, especially once we weren't at the same high school and I stopped feeling like everyone was comparing me to her.

Heidi's the only one who can make an open-face peanut butter and honey sandwich as good as my Omi could.  When I go to her house I stock up on snuggles, arm rubs, and back-scratching because I don't really get those at home.

I can call Heidi with the most random questions about a book or a movie or a quote from a movie or an actor from a movie and she can answer it immediately, even when Google couldn't!  We have a lot of the same tastes in books, movies and TV shows and we mail books back and forth all the time.

I love you so much, Sister, and I wish you lived closer so we could hang out more and Dutch could be spoiled by his cousins more often.  Happy birthday and I can't wait to see you.