Another post about sleep. ...

Did I tell you that Oliver is not sleeping again? I'm not sure when it happened exactly but it has been more than three weeks. Not every night, of course. Once in awhile we get a break. But Man!! this no sleeping thing is hard. I'm not working a regular job anymore so theoretically that should make it easier. But I'm doing all the planning and prep work for my certification program at night after the kids go to sleep -- so basically I park myself at the computer around 9pm and don't move until midnight or later. Sometimes much later. But I'm trying to maintain a good outlook about it. It helps that the RDI approach to things means that I'm already keeping things slow and steady. If I'm tired, if Oliver is tired, then we can spend the morning in our pjs playing silly face games together on the couch and I don't feel guilty. (Yes, if he is awake I am awake -- he's just a little boy! I never get those people who tell me to let him cope in the night alone.) And yet, I do see such a difference in my boy and his ability to focus and cope when he isn't sleeping well. I just SO wish I knew what to do to help him -- us -- to get through these periods. Right now we are piggy-backing melatonin and benedryl, which is the only recommendation I got from the pediatrician, but it just seems like there should be a better solution. And sometimes even this doesn't work. I googled sleep clinics and found that there is one fairly close to where we live, but upon reading more I discovered that Oliver would need to go to sleep wearing sensors on his scalp and face and elastic bands around his chest. For a boy who can't even tolerate a band-aid, I can't even think about how a scenario like this would work. Still, I think I will call and see if there is an alternate method.

So I haven't been blogging much. I'm tired a lot these days. And when I'm at the computer it usually involves working. But some good things have been happening:

1. Date nights. Nik and I recently discovered that -- hey! we have a very capable teenager living with us. So one night a week we put the kids in bed and when they are asleep we wave good-bye to the teenager and wish him luck. The first night we went out for a glass of wine at a nearby jazz bar that I had been wanting to visit. The second night we went to an incredibly awesome wedding and Nik and I danced until we dropped. (Klezmer music, which is funny because Nik can only swing dance and I can only salsa -- but we made it work :-) This week we just went for a long walk around town like we did in the old days before children.

2. Granola. You love it, right? Who doesn't! After much trial and error I think I've finally found the perfect granola recipe with the right combination of sweetness and crunchiness: rolled oats, raw wheat germ, flax meal, corn meal, almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut, buckwheat groats, brown sugar, salt, honey, cinnamon, vanilla and water. All the fine parts glue-up the coarse parts and the result is better than yummy! I've got some in the oven now and my bowl of milk is standing at the ready even though it is 11:47 at night. There is never a wrong time to eat granola.

3. I am loving the work that goes along with my certification program. It is hard, I'll tell you that. But I'm learning a ton and the work, the education, well, it is all so motivating and rewarding. And that is a good thing because the more I learn the more I see that I have to learn!!

4. Oh, and one more month until we leave for vacation and I've already got lists everywhere! I'm really good at making lists but bad at checking things off until the very last minute.

OK, the granola is ready, it's after midnight and I've got to go find a spoon. Sweet dreams everyone!