Canche Chronicles: Spring break with the Caldwells and Emily hates sleep training

Well, Emily's sleep training took a rather ugly turn on Monday night. After an easy night on Sunday, she decided to pull out the big guns. She woke up twice and the first time was no problem. I put her paci in and she went back to sleep. The second time she decided she was going to put up a fight. I ended up picking her up and putting her down around twenty times and then she just seemed to be getting worse. I had David put together a bottle because I figured then we would both win. She would get some milk and I would get her to take a bottle. It worked out for both of us. Emily drank one ounce out of a bottle and then went to sleep until morning. Just the fact that it was only one ounce kind of proves that she wasn't as starving as she thought! The worst part came when Haley woke up towards the end of the Emily ordeal. She either woke up from the crying or from the bloody nose that was all over her face. David cleaned her up and let her go potty but then she was wide awake. She ended up coming back to our bed, then going back to her own bed, then coming back to our's. It was all pretty terrible.

Tuesday morning we all woke up pretty tired. David didn't have to work and he had offered to help the Caldwells with some house projects over spring break so he headed over there. The girls and I went to the gym and then came home and finished cleaning the house. The girls took pretty long naps after the bad night so that was kind of a plus. Amanda called late afternoon and asked if we wanted to come over for dinner since Dave had been helping all day. We took them up on their offer and after Dave came home and showered, we headed to their house.

Haley was pretty excited to play with Evelyn and Lucy after having been cooped up most of the day. When we arrived we found out that the plumbing job that Ben and David had been working on, revealed that their sewer line was clogged. Dave, Ben, and a LU student that goes to our church had been under the house in their crawl space repairing a sewer pipe for most of the day, gross. Apparently once the water could no longer leak out of the pipes, it stopped draining as well. Ben figured this out quickly when he tried to shower after his long day. Basically, the Caldwells were unable to use any water in their house: toilets, washer, sinks, showers, etc. Amanda had been halfway through preparing dinner when they figured it out so she finished making dinner and we still ate there. After dinner, the Caldwells packed up some overnight bags and came to our house for the night. We told them it was ridiculous to stay there if they couldn't even flush their toilets or do anything water related without dumping buckets outside.

By the time they arrived it was getting late so we gave the girls baths and then put them to bed. Haley was pretty excited about Evelyn and Lucy staying in the guestroom but tired enough to go right to sleep. Ben and Amanda stayed up and played Ticket to Ride with David and I, David won.

Tuesday night with Emily was similar to Monday night. She woke up at midnight and I put her paci back in. Then she woke up at five and wanted more than her paci. I did pick up put down maybe about five times and then she started to get mad. I think she must have realized I was doing the same thing as the night before. At that point she did not want consolation like that. She whimpered when she was put down and she fussed when I picked her up. She wasn't crying really, but she definitely wasn't sleeping. David finally made her a one ounce bottle again around 6:15 and she went to sleep until 9:30. I figured by 6 she had been sleeping nine hours so that is long enough to go without eating.

I got up around eight to make pancakes for breakfast. The Caldwell girls are early risers, well earlier than Haley, so they had breakfast without her. Haley finally rolled out of bed around 9 and scarfed down some pancakes so she could play with her friends. Dave left for work and Ben left to work on the house before then. Amanda stayed and hung out with the kids for most of the morning. I had reserved a spot at the gym for Emily so I ended up doing that while she stayed here with the big girls. I ran and then showered and got ready for the day at the gym. I wonder if the childcare people have trouble recognizing me when I come to pick Emily up. When I drop her off I look pretty rough, not going to lie.

When Emily and I got home I told Amanda to go to her house and get things done (she had a long list). She finally consented and headed out. I basically hung out with the girls for the rest of the day. It was super nice outside so I made grilled cheese sandwiches and we ate lunch at the picnic table in the back. After lunch the girls must have realized that it was almost naptime because they played so nicely. Finally I lured them inside and they all went on the potty, put on pull-ups, and went down for naps. Emily was tired but had a hard time going down for her nap. I put her in the crib to start but she kept spitting and talking and then fussing so finally I just took her out and put her in the swing where she fell to sleep after a bit.

Evelyn and Lucy slept just under two hours but I made them stay in their beds until Haley woke up a little later. To be honest, I had just finished doing my Bible study and wanted to lay down myself. I don't think they minded playing with their stuffed animals in the guest room anyways. Once Haley woke up I took them all to the potty, changed them back into their panties, and then they played in the den until David got home from work. He had brought back a bunch of cookies with him from the airport so he took them all outside to eat and play. Amanda arrived just as they were finishing. She invited us over for dinner again since I had watched the girls. I told her it really wasn't necessary but she insisted that she was making a bunch of food anyways because they had two LU students helping them today. I was making a meal for a girl from our church who just had a baby and hadn't even started our dinner yet so we decided to take them up on it again.

I finished making the meal I was doing and we dropped it off on our way to the Caldwells. It was already almost seven by the time we sat down to dinner at their house so we didn't stay long. Plus the evening took an ugly turn when Haley had a random pee pee accident. We loaded up the van and came home around 8:30. Emily went right to sleep but Haley had a hard time. I ended up giving her a pancake because I think she was hungry. She ate the whole thing and then went to sleep.

Haleyism:
Haley ate a quarter of a grilled cheese sandwich today, crust and everything!

Emilyism:
Emily gets SOOO offended when I put her back in the crib during pick-up, put-down. She is a little sensitive I think.