Monday, August 11, 2008
Role-play
As chibiguri was going to bed, he decided that today he was not going to be chibiguri. Instead, he announced to us that he was 'Mommy'. Now as a matter of normal process, chibiguri sleeps in the middle- in fact he usually insists on that position. However, since he was 'Mommy' tonight, he informed Amaguri that she needed to sleep in the middle, since he had changed roles with her. So he made her sleep in the middle and he slept on the outside, for a change. And he refused to be addressed by his real name- insteada insisting on being called 'Mommy'.
i am not sure what this signifies, but it is interesting he chose to be 'Mommy' tonight, as opposed to playing my role. We shall see where this goes...
i am not sure what this signifies, but it is interesting he chose to be 'Mommy' tonight, as opposed to playing my role. We shall see where this goes...
Labels: Mommy, roles, sleeping
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Bedtime
Getting chibiguri into bed in the evenings is becoming a difficult undertaking. He has his own idea of when he ought to go to bed, and it rarely coincides with ours. But we are beginning to manage the pattern. The usual course of events is as follows:
chibiguri gets out of the bath and we relax on the couch, usually sampling fruits or other light snacks. When we announce that it is bedtime, chibiguri wil put up a fuss. This usually is centered around his desire to watch Little Einsteins, or some other video/DVD on the television (which he still calls 'beebee'). We finally tell him that he can watch it once, but that then he needs to go to bed. he always promises that he will be amenable to sleep once he gets his wish. we then watch the video.
Upon the DVD's conclusion, chibiguri is once again informed that it is time to go to sleep. He invariably forgets that he promised to go to bed, and once again puts up a fuss. Finally, we simply go to bed, leaving him in the living room. Since he gets lonely in short order, he will usually come to bed crying, and wanting to be in the middle. Once there, it is not long before he drops off to sleep at last.
The rare occasions when this does not happen are when we are actually watching something on TV and he is with us. he will quite often drop off to sleep in the middle of watching, which allows us to carry him to his own bed, and lets us actually sleep without a little squirmer in the middle. Regrettably, this is rare- it is more common to go through the argumentative stage before he finally goes to sleep.
chibiguri gets out of the bath and we relax on the couch, usually sampling fruits or other light snacks. When we announce that it is bedtime, chibiguri wil put up a fuss. This usually is centered around his desire to watch Little Einsteins, or some other video/DVD on the television (which he still calls 'beebee'). We finally tell him that he can watch it once, but that then he needs to go to bed. he always promises that he will be amenable to sleep once he gets his wish. we then watch the video.
Upon the DVD's conclusion, chibiguri is once again informed that it is time to go to sleep. He invariably forgets that he promised to go to bed, and once again puts up a fuss. Finally, we simply go to bed, leaving him in the living room. Since he gets lonely in short order, he will usually come to bed crying, and wanting to be in the middle. Once there, it is not long before he drops off to sleep at last.
The rare occasions when this does not happen are when we are actually watching something on TV and he is with us. he will quite often drop off to sleep in the middle of watching, which allows us to carry him to his own bed, and lets us actually sleep without a little squirmer in the middle. Regrettably, this is rare- it is more common to go through the argumentative stage before he finally goes to sleep.
Labels: sleeping
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Jet Lag
chibiguri returned from Japan with his mother last weekend. However, while he was delighted to see me (and vice-versa), the return did bring a few problems with it.
Firstly, chibiguri is still operating on Japan time. This means he tends to sleep at inconvenient hours, and to expect Mommy and Daddy to do the same. the day he came back, his mother desired a nap, so I took chibiguri out shopping (we needed milk for a very thirsty little guy). He was very active during this excursion, and remained in a state of high energy for some time after returning. However, he finally conked out around 3 PM that afternoon. One would think we were quite grateful for this. One would be wrong.
The problem with chibiguri sleeping at 3 PM was his re-awakening, once again in a state of high energy, at around 8 PM that evening. As I needed to return to work the following morning, I attempted to sleep, but chibiguri was having none of that idea, insistently doing his best to keep me (and his mother) awake to keep him company.
The second problem was chibiguri's toy collection. During his sojourn in japan, he acquired a collection of small plastic animals and die-cast metal cars, which he naturally insisted on bringing into the bed with him (shades of his father, I must confess!). However, trying to sleep with a die-cast car collection and a hard plastic animal collection is not exactly comfortable- especially when a very noisy little guy is also in the bed!
His sleeping habits are continuing to operate on Japan time as I write this, but I did break the schedule by forcing him to wake earlier than he would have liked this morning to go to daycare for the first time in over a month (he cried when he realized I was not going to remain with him this morning, unfortunately). So I have hopes that he will be sufficiently tired this evening to sleep at a time more convenient for amaguri and me!
Should this not occur, I think that the time to move chibiguri into his own sleeping quarters has finally arrived. Hopefully, chibiguri will agree with this assessment, but I fear that may not be the case. We shall see. In the menatime, it is delightful to have chibiguri and Amaguri back home- i spent a week in an empty house and that was not the most fun i have ever had. Despite the drawbacks of chibiguri's presence, I am happy to have him back home.
Firstly, chibiguri is still operating on Japan time. This means he tends to sleep at inconvenient hours, and to expect Mommy and Daddy to do the same. the day he came back, his mother desired a nap, so I took chibiguri out shopping (we needed milk for a very thirsty little guy). He was very active during this excursion, and remained in a state of high energy for some time after returning. However, he finally conked out around 3 PM that afternoon. One would think we were quite grateful for this. One would be wrong.
The problem with chibiguri sleeping at 3 PM was his re-awakening, once again in a state of high energy, at around 8 PM that evening. As I needed to return to work the following morning, I attempted to sleep, but chibiguri was having none of that idea, insistently doing his best to keep me (and his mother) awake to keep him company.
The second problem was chibiguri's toy collection. During his sojourn in japan, he acquired a collection of small plastic animals and die-cast metal cars, which he naturally insisted on bringing into the bed with him (shades of his father, I must confess!). However, trying to sleep with a die-cast car collection and a hard plastic animal collection is not exactly comfortable- especially when a very noisy little guy is also in the bed!
His sleeping habits are continuing to operate on Japan time as I write this, but I did break the schedule by forcing him to wake earlier than he would have liked this morning to go to daycare for the first time in over a month (he cried when he realized I was not going to remain with him this morning, unfortunately). So I have hopes that he will be sufficiently tired this evening to sleep at a time more convenient for amaguri and me!
Should this not occur, I think that the time to move chibiguri into his own sleeping quarters has finally arrived. Hopefully, chibiguri will agree with this assessment, but I fear that may not be the case. We shall see. In the menatime, it is delightful to have chibiguri and Amaguri back home- i spent a week in an empty house and that was not the most fun i have ever had. Despite the drawbacks of chibiguri's presence, I am happy to have him back home.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
More on Sleeping...
...or lack thereof! chibiguri has unfortunately inherited his father's predilection for staying awake long past his preferable bedtime. This has caused his mother and me quite a bit of anguish, as it is becoming more and more frequent that he refuses to go to bed and actually sleep. Coupled with his preference for his parents' bed as opposed to his own, this means that we are often reduced to being his unwilling winesses as he climbs, rambles and otherwise engages in vigorous activity in, around and all over us.
Last night, Amaguri was taken ill- she had a fierce headache and her tummy was upset. Thus, she desired to go to bed to get some sleep. At first, chibiguri and I were relaxed whilst we watched an exciting game of basketball between the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. However, chibiguri prefers to have an audience of two as opposed to an audience of one. Once he had consumed his usual allotment of pre-bedtime milk, he indicated that he wished to go to bed. I acquiesced, and we proceeded to the bedroom, where we climbed between the covers. However, after an initial period of quiet, chibiguri began to demonstrate his wakefulness in various ways- most of which were not helpful to his mother's need for peace and quiet.
Finally, we returned to the living room, where we watched the conclusion of the game and then changed over to Food Network. By this time, it was almost eleven o'clock PM. Only after half of the food program had elapsed did chibiguri finally go to sleep. I think we are going to have to work on a better way to ensure his complete exhaustion prior to putting him to bed- all other methods seem to fail miserably!
Last night, Amaguri was taken ill- she had a fierce headache and her tummy was upset. Thus, she desired to go to bed to get some sleep. At first, chibiguri and I were relaxed whilst we watched an exciting game of basketball between the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. However, chibiguri prefers to have an audience of two as opposed to an audience of one. Once he had consumed his usual allotment of pre-bedtime milk, he indicated that he wished to go to bed. I acquiesced, and we proceeded to the bedroom, where we climbed between the covers. However, after an initial period of quiet, chibiguri began to demonstrate his wakefulness in various ways- most of which were not helpful to his mother's need for peace and quiet.
Finally, we returned to the living room, where we watched the conclusion of the game and then changed over to Food Network. By this time, it was almost eleven o'clock PM. Only after half of the food program had elapsed did chibiguri finally go to sleep. I think we are going to have to work on a better way to ensure his complete exhaustion prior to putting him to bed- all other methods seem to fail miserably!
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
We're 'Cute'
chibiguri has learned a new expression. As we were all in the process of going to sleep last night, he reached out and tapped me on my cheek. 'Cute', he said. Naturally, I was surprised. 'Did I just hear you call me "cute"?' I inquired. chibiguri nodded emphatically. 'Cute', he repeated. Her then proceed to slide over and give me a kiss on the cheek! meanwhile amaguri was quietly chuckling. I suspect she may have put chibiguri up to it.
So I asked chibiguri, 'What about Mom?'. He wriggled across the bed to amaguri;'s pillow, and proceeded to execute the exact same maneuver with her. He tapped her cheek, said 'cute' and gave her a kiss.
It is really amazing how someone can become so special and when they give you the knowledge that they actually lve you, how that can affect one- even an old skeptic like me. I am so happy that chibiguri is in our lives, and I look forweard to seeing what he will do next.
So I asked chibiguri, 'What about Mom?'. He wriggled across the bed to amaguri;'s pillow, and proceeded to execute the exact same maneuver with her. He tapped her cheek, said 'cute' and gave her a kiss.
It is really amazing how someone can become so special and when they give you the knowledge that they actually lve you, how that can affect one- even an old skeptic like me. I am so happy that chibiguri is in our lives, and I look forweard to seeing what he will do next.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Mornings
chibiguri seems to have a thing for waking up early these days. Today, I woke up around 6:30, and chibiguri promptly decided that this was a Good Time for him to awake as well. SO by the time I had showered and was ready to leave for the office, chibiguri was already up and busy. I don't know if this is a trend, but I hope that he at least goes to bed early tonight. Going late to bed and early to rise tends to have a detrimental effect on my sleeping habits, not to mention those of Amaguri.
On the bright side, it is easier to get him into his clothes when he is awake and alert than when he just wants to go back to sleep- he can be placed in front of the TV as we maneuver him into his clothes, whereas if he is still sleepy, he does his best to wriggle back under the covers- our covers, naturally.
On the bright side, it is easier to get him into his clothes when he is awake and alert than when he just wants to go back to sleep- he can be placed in front of the TV as we maneuver him into his clothes, whereas if he is still sleepy, he does his best to wriggle back under the covers- our covers, naturally.
Labels: sleeping
Friday, September 14, 2007
Sleeping Revisited
Well, we have moved chibiguri's bed into his own room, thus creating more space for his mother and me in the main bed. While he still needs to be in with us to actually go to sleep, once he drops off, we have fopund that he is quite amenable to being moved. We deliberately left a break in one side of his crib to allow hiom to climb down by himself if he wakes during the night and needs company. But....
chibiguri has developed a bad habit of waking in the night and then needing parental companionship in order to go back to sleep. The typical process is thus:
1. chibiguri starts to complain, though he reamins asleep
2., This complaining wakes amaguri and me. (This usually occurs around 2 or 3 in the morning)
3. chibiguri wakes, and toddles into our room, where he insists that he needs to occurpy the majority of our bed
4. chibiguri goes to sleep, but we are too tired to remove him to his own bed (especailly on work nights) and we all0ow him to remain
5. chibiguri rearranges himself to be horizontal, thus decreasing the amount of space that his mother and I can occupy. he also has developed the habit of kicking in order to clear up space for himself.
6. chibiguri sleeps. We don't.
So the upshot is that our brilliant plan of moving chibiguri's bed to his own room did not exactly ease our own slepping situation. I look forward to the day when chibiguri is able to go to slepp and remain in hios own bed.
chibiguri has developed a bad habit of waking in the night and then needing parental companionship in order to go back to sleep. The typical process is thus:
1. chibiguri starts to complain, though he reamins asleep
2., This complaining wakes amaguri and me. (This usually occurs around 2 or 3 in the morning)
3. chibiguri wakes, and toddles into our room, where he insists that he needs to occurpy the majority of our bed
4. chibiguri goes to sleep, but we are too tired to remove him to his own bed (especailly on work nights) and we all0ow him to remain
5. chibiguri rearranges himself to be horizontal, thus decreasing the amount of space that his mother and I can occupy. he also has developed the habit of kicking in order to clear up space for himself.
6. chibiguri sleeps. We don't.
So the upshot is that our brilliant plan of moving chibiguri's bed to his own room did not exactly ease our own slepping situation. I look forward to the day when chibiguri is able to go to slepp and remain in hios own bed.
