Go to bed, mean babies...

I used to sing a song to Sam, when I'd want him to go to sleep: go to sleep mean baby, go to sleep mean baby, it's time for you to rest... It was very comforting somehow. I think one of the central challenges of parenthood is that you often have to act in a way different than you feel. Thankfully, toddlers (and certainly infants) can't read sarcasm.

One of the challenges we have now is that we face parenting challenges on several fronts. Sam's pretty much down to just using a binky (with a small hole) at nighttime. Potty training has been a bit iffy. Sam's been peeing well for the last several weeks, but has only really gotten the hang of poop over the weekend. It's still a work in progress. We'd started things last summer, but they weren't taking, and we heard that it's best to avoid major changes with the addition of a new sibling(s). Thankfully, Sam is a model big brother, but we are still trying to put him through the hoops on the way out of toddlerdom.

Right now, we're trying for the first time to see what happens during the night if we don't immediately feed the twins. If this goes well, we'll either move to one feeding during the night or to no feedings. Right now, the twins go down around 7 and then Emily feeds them again around 10 before she goes to bed. However, they've continued to feed frequently. Emily isn't always sure how much they've eaten or when they've eaten and is feeling tired.

Below's part of an email detailing how it's going. It's now 2:14 am, and I've only been at this seriously for about an hour. My goal is to make it to 5, but Emily said I can wake her up earlier if that doesn't work:

I'm up late. We're making our first run at sleep training. Eva woke up at 12:30 but then after a little comforting and patting went back to sleep. However, Eli woke up a little before 2 and is kind of bellowing. He's not crying, just letting us know that it would be fine if we'd feed him now.

I think Emily could live with one feeding a night, but it would help to have an idea of what they need and what they're doing now. I think Eva can probably go four or five hours and the same is true for Eli. Once we get a handle on things, maybe Emily could move back in with Sam and I and just do a middle of the night fight. Our hope is to at least stretch things out a little.

I have class tomorrow afternoon, but not until 3:30. I am plunking away on small projects now and hoping that Eli will take a rest in the near future. I think we did well making it to six months (well, a couple of days more).

This is all quite an adventure. Emily's written to several friends in the last few days. I think if we can get some longer blocks at night, it will be a big step forward. Here's hoping...