Good morning to you! I hope you’re having a good Wednesday so far, even if you’re reading this blog post first thing in the morning snuggled under your covers in bed. Our week so far has been a good one and I wanted to share a recap of our Tuesday with you today to catch up.
Morning
I woke up at 5 a.m. to a screaming Chase instead of my usual alarm. I’m not sure what’s going on with Chase lately, but he’s been waking up super early a few times a week, crying or screaming. I can usually go into his room, read him a book and settle him back down in his crib for another hour or two, but I have no idea what’s up with this strange new development. Anyone else been through something similar?
Once Chase was calm and cuddled up with his blankie and stuffed cat, I headed downstairs to make myself an egg white oatmeal pancake with pumpkin seeds to enjoy along with a few chocolate superfood energy bites, a mug of hot tea and my devotionals.
I spent the rest of the early morning hours working on my computer and said goodbye to Ryan as he headed off to work right before Chase was up for the day. Chase and I dug into the last of the pumpkin loaf we made on Sunday and after Chase was done eating, his busied himself with mirror painting (I give him a cup of water and some Q-tips and he “paints” pictures in our bathroom mirror) while I got ready for the day. (Mom hack: Mirror painting is the BEST when you have a clingy kiddo on your hands but need to get ready since it lets them sit right up next to you while you brush your teeth, throw your hair up, etc.)
We made it out the door with enough time make it to a morning boot camp class before we had plans to meet up with some friends for a discussion group centered around parenting and motherhood. The Burn Boot Camp workout of the day was a speed and agility tripod that looked like this:
Post workout, I let the cleansing cloths I keep in my car work their magic and quickly freshened up before I spent the next 90 minutes or so listening and participating in the discussion about motherhood at our church. (Childcare was provided so Chase ran around and had a blast in the auditorium with some of his buddies.)
One of my biggest takeaways from our discussion was to think about the type of child you want to raise (kind, generous, respectful, etc.) but then create goals for yourself for the type of parent you want to be to help model these behaviors in front of your child. So much of a child’s learning is tied up in observation and I already see Chase watching me and Ryan and mimicking our behaviors, attitudes, language and mannerisms. I find myself thinking a lot more about the way I conduct myself and respond and interact with others now that I know I have a tiny audience with me wherever I go and yesterday’s discussion reiterated in my mind the importance of reminding myself of my parenting goals and the kind of man I want to raise when I parent Chase on a day-to-day basis.
Afternoon
We made it home just before noon with plenty of time for some play and food prep before Chase went down for his nap. Chase and Sadie served as my taste testers and helpers as I prepped dinner for the night.
Once Chase was bored of cooking, he played with his toys for a bit which gave me a chance to unload the dishwasher, throw in a load of laundry and straighten up the kitchen. He settled in for his nap around 2 p.m. and I showered and used leftover Thai peanut chicken thighs in yet another chopped salad for lunch. I made the salad big enough to last for lunch for two days. (I leave off the dressing and avocado until right before I’m going to eat my salad if I prep salad in advance to keep it crunchy.)
Immediately following my salad, I unwrapped a Tootsie Roll Pop (okay, two of them) because I am addicted these days.
Evening
Once Chase was up, we stayed close to home, ate a snack, did some random household chores and played together before bath time. Ryan didn’t make it home from work until close to 8 p.m. but still got to see Chase for a few minutes before bed.
Dinner last night included shogayaki chicken over brown rice which I ate at 5 p.m. and Ryan reheated when he got home because my stomach cannot handle 8 p.m. dinner times.
We climbed into bed around 9 p.m. and chatted about our days a bit before cracking open our books. I didn’t make it more than 30 minutes into my book last night before my eyes were too heavy to keep reading.
I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week!
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LOVE the mirror painting idea – always looking for mom hacks lol! Does he sit on your countertop next to you while he does this?
Yes! I position myself in front of him so he’s “trapped” on the counter top while I get ready. He LOVES mirror painting!
I’ve heard of fence painting! Paint brush and a bucket of water. I like the mirror idea!
The mirror painting idea is too cute!! What a sweet little day!
few comments about the adorable boy:
When we were pregnant with our second, our first had months of screaming spells. (Same thing happened before we moved houses a year or so later). I think the knowledge of change or sensation of change can cause anxieties that are manifested by screaming or unusual behavior. They won’t even be able to acknowledge but that was our experience. It all disappeared when the baby was born and when the move occurred.
Also, the terrible twos are followed by the really terrible threes so there’s always that too. It will end is all I can tell you. It’s not always easy. But it does end. Good luck. And congrats on the pregnancy. That’s great news.
poor buddy 🙁 maybe night terrors?
Night terrors are common around that time. It happened to mine for a few weeks then it randomly settles back down. 🙂
I also recommend Parenting by Paul David Tripp or The God Centered Child by Ted Tripp (brothers). It gets to the heart of child raising. So much focus for people is on behavior but what these books focus on is obedience and love of God first then the desire to obey parents and develop those fruits of the spirit that we all truly should be seeking.
Oh my goodness, Chase looks like such a little man in that photo! What a cutie!! As for the sleep, my boy will be 3 next month and he recently went through something similar. He would wake up screaming really early but we were able to get him to fall back asleep. It didn’t last long though, thank goodness! I always attribute these types of things as being developmental when they happen day after day. Their brains are working at top speed and creating billions of new connections all the time, that I think it’s completely normal for them to have periods of being thrown off their normal schedule. It’s kind of like the wonder weeks leaps from when they were babies–have you heard of those? If not, you can google it and there’s a lot of good info on brain development in little ones.
Also, yessss to the mirror drawings! I have found that if my little guy is refusing to let me brush his teeth, if I tell him he can draw on the mirror with his bathtub crayons (those “crayons” that wash off in the bathtub), he will easily let me brush them. It’s fun for him and super easy to clean up!
Re the early morning waking – my now 3 year old went through something similar when he was around 2 and a half. He didn’t wake up screaming, but he’d get out of his crib anytime between 4:30-5:30 am and come find us (complete with flipping on our bedroom lights and shouting, “hey guys, I’m here!”). It took a couple of weeks and putting an Ok to Wake clock in his room and he eventually stopped. His language skills also exploded around that time, so I think his brain was just working overtime.
My oldest (now 4.5) used to wake up crying, but much earlier in the evening (between 10-12 pm) because of nightmares/night terrors around the same age. It also passed after a few weeks.
I think in general we’ve seen sleep disturbances whenever they’re experiencing a big change (especially in mental/neurological development). It’s rough while it’s happening, but it generally passes. Good luck and hope he’s back to sleeping later soon!
Yes! When I ask Chase what’s wrong and why he’s crying, he just replies, “I just awake!” I’ve heard awesome things about that OK to Wake clock and will definitely be buying that one when we do the big boy bed transition! (He’s still in his crib right now and thankfully has never tried to escape.)
It’s so hard when they say something like that – they just want to hang out with us, but we all want to sleep, lol. Hugs to all of you as this phase rears its ugly head. I really hope for y’all that it passes soon!
And the ok to wake clock (I think the one we have is technically the “teach me time” version) is a lifesaver! Although, both my boys were out of their rooms this morning looking for us before they turned green, so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, lol.
We have our constant sleep troubles with my son (he’ll be 3 in May), but does Chase have his 2 year molars yet? Those really messed things up for us for several weeks! And we always have the dreaded ear infections. If it’s not teething or ears, just another phase. They get really smart at this age and my son will start to scream/call for me. Sometimes he just wants to tell me something…often that he doesn’t want to sleep anymore, ha!
Oh I love that your church held a discussion about motherhood. I’m not a mom, but a teacher and it’s very noticeable that kids act a lot like their parents! And hope Chase gets back on his sleep schedule soon!
Julie, my little one just turned 3 and she’s been doing the same thing!
Piper use to be a champion sleeper but, as she neared the end of age 2, she started waking up in the middle of the night, screaming for us. For no real apparent reason, either (which can be frustrating at 1, 2, 3 then 5 a.m.) Sometimes, it just literally takes us opening the door and once she sees we are there, she plops back down and goes to sleep. Other times we need to rub her back until she falls back asleep.
Either way, it started out the blue and hasn’t stopped yet (a couple months in now). It is reassuring to know from your post and the other comments that it seems to be a trend at this age. Solidarity to all of you, toddler moms!
Yes! This began happening around the holidays and seems to have continued. Sometimes he’s waking up at 2 a.m., other times it’s more like 5-6 a.m. but he’s still totally exhausted at that time of day so I know he’s not ready to get up. I swear right when we think we have sleep figured out everything changes!
Sorry Chase is having bad dreams lately! 🙁
I can’t eat past 6:45 pm … so we’re in the same boat there!
Tootsie roll pops are so good.
I absolutely love that idea of mirror painting! I am going to have to tell my sister about it, I think my nephews would love that!! And I will stick that one in the back of my head for when I am a mommy! 😉 I also love that your church held a discussion about motherhood; being with children in classrooms while I was a teacher, and being around my nephews a lot, I can see that they definitely mimic their parents’ behaviors, attitudes, etc. I applaud you for taking the time to think about that and really taking it into account because a lot of parents honestly do not care. I can just tell you are doing an amazing job of raising Chase! I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday! Xoxo
Adeline has been going through some weird sleep struggles lately too, which is super bizarre because she’s never had any sleep issues. She’s been waking up at night crying and just being really upset, or waking up much earlier than usual. We’ve mostly attributed it to a new fear of the dark, and growing pains. Sometimes I’ll leave her door open and the hall light on and that seems to help sometimes with the wake ups.
Are those classes through your church? How do you find stuff like that to do? Also, what kind of tea have you been drinking?
Hi Kelli! These classes are through a Moms Mentoring group (separate from my church) but they just so happen to be hosted at my church every month. One of my friends told me about them and she learned about it through her MOPS group.
As for tea, I’ve been drinking a tonnnn of it lately so I have a pretty large selection of favs at the moment. I always love peppermint tea but am also drinking red roobios, chamomile, pregnancy wellness tea, Egyptian licorice mint and more!
It sounds like night terrors (nightmares)…our little guy (currently 3.5) started having nightmares every so often around two. They come in spurts. Usually lots of mama snuggles calm him down and they go back to sleep just fine!
When I was pregnant with my second baby, my then just over 3 year old decided that 3a was her new awake time. She would stand in her room and scream for me to come in there. We tried several things – ie fairy lights to help her in her room, a special doll, a few more things to keep her busy in her bed, but nothing seemed to work. We gave in and got her an “okay to wake clock” – which really helped. She is 5 now, and we still use it in her room. When she wakes up, if the clock is not on, she knows she can get books and read, but she has to stay quiet and in her room. I wish I could say my daughter went back to being an amazing sleeper — but at least she is quiet until her clock turns green! Good luck mama. Those early morning wake up calls are hard.
The mirror painting idea is GENIUS! Thanks for sharing.
ah julie… I so need to hear that message about christ centered biblical parenting. struggling big time over here with my anger issues (my daughter who is just weeks younger then chase) is simply refusing to nap and everyone is very testy over here at our house…I work nights and nap times are my salvation, Im angry. Im not going to sugar coat it… and i know im not perfect and would do my daughter a disservice if I try to be more then human….she needs to see my sinfulness and see me to go to Jesus and ask her forgiveness….I just wish I had more patience. If you could recap that mom sermon from your bible study i’d LOVE to hear more about it… thanks girl
Tootsie Roll Pops are the best! I stocked up on the candy cane variety at Christmas, and there’s a good chance I’ll be enjoying them until they come out again next holiday season 🙂
Hi Julie,
My son is 3.5 and he did that same thing around age 2. He would wake up at 4:30am(sometimes screaming) and getting him to take a nap was a real battle. I knew he was tired but he just wouldn’t nap. We thought he was done with his crib so we transitioned him to a big boy bed and things gradually started to improve. He eventually stopped doing that and started taking naps again. I knew he was so tired and did need a nap. He still takes naps now but not every day. Some days he does “quiet time” in his room which he enjoys. Good luck! I know it can be really frustrating:(
Our little boy is going through a similar week with waking up upset/crying. He just got over a bad cold, so we assumed it was connected with that. But he seems to be waking up earlier and has talked about a few bad dreams. Good luck with sleep, I hope it improves! And I love the mirror painting idea ?