On sleep, and other thoughts

We've been here in Wichita for about 7 weeks now. And before that we spent two weeks driving around, staying in different places, seeing lots of people and doing lots of new/out of routine things. And before that, life was a little chaotic with condo showings, packing, graduation, lots of visitors, lots of good-byes and all sorts of disorder (exciting and good things, but hard on small kids). By the time we landed in our new house, the kids were all out of sorts. It was a big transition, and it took a while for us all to settle back into a routine. Even after being here for weeks, Jonah was still waking before 5:00 am, and then only napping about an hour in the afternoon - NOT enough sleep for that kid. And Cora got into the habit of waking 3 or 4 times a night to eat and only taking short, 40 minute naps during the day -- that combination = NOT enough sleep for this mama!

I am so, so happy that we are finally at a place where EVERYONE is sleeping well again. After a little bit of sleep training/tough love, Cora is now sleeping through from seven at night until six in the morning. And she is finally starting to show signs of a more predictable daytime sleep schedule. Jonah is also finally getting the sleep he needs - for the past three weeks, he has been waking between six and seven each morning, and napping 3-3.5 hours each afternoon. What a difference it makes when the kids are getting the sleep they need!

We are all feeling more refreshed these days, but we've been doing a lot more besides just sleeping... Summer time in Kansas is busy, and we're loving it! Aunt Jenny and Grandma, along with cousins Layla and Carly stopped by twice - once on their way north to Iowa, and again on their way back home to Texas. So fun that we're now right on their route! Their visits were sandwiched in between two long days of driving each way, but we had fun hanging out for a bit and seeing the girls again (we hadn't seen them since Christmas).

I didn't take many pictures of their visits, but we crammed in a lot of fun. The first visit, we took them to the zoo and enjoyed lunch at Jason's Deli. A long morning made for cranky kiddos who fought their naps when we got home (x4). The next morning, the weary travelers were back on the road the rest of the way to Iowa. Jenny had dressed the girls in matching outfits that day....and she and Mom inadvertently dressed alike, too :)

For their second visit, we had a relaxing morning at home, then ventured out after naps to a really neat park near our house. The park has a nice play ground, but also fishing, paddle boats, mini golf, pony rides and train you can ride around the very large park! We rode the train during this visit. We'll definitely be making a trip back to check out some of the other activities.

Jonah is still very much into coloring. Markers are still a favorite, but he's also expanded into crayons, colored pencils and pens. I tried to explain that it might be easier to write if he rested his elbow on the table...

But he thought that was a little awkward and not very helpful. Much easier to do the elbow part with his left hand....

We were hanging out outside one morning - Jonah was drawing with chalk and I was weeding (a never ending chore!). I heard him spouting off, "J-O-N-A-H 'pells 'Jonah'!" but didn't think much of it. He is pretty much constantly talking. But as we were heading inside, I spied this:

Now, I have no idea how intentional this was....but I was pretty impressed! J-O-N-A-H spells "Jonah"!

One of the things I am enjoying about Jonah at this age is how he is starting to recall events. We will be sitting at breakfast, and he will suddenly remember something we did yesterday or two days ago and just start telling stories. I love to watch him pull the details from his memory and think of the words, and then it all comes tumbling out. In this video, I did some prompting, but it gives you an idea of how his thoughts flow. (At the beginning of the video, he is showing the difference between 'parallel' and 'perpendicular'...because those are the kinds of things we talk about at the dinner table :)

Brandon survived his first month of residency! We celebrated with a trip to the water park...at the YMCA -- I love that our gym has a water park, complete with wave pool! For his next rotation, Brandon has to work his first week of night shifts, so the kids and I will be heading to Iowa for the week. We figure it will be easier for Brandon to sleep during the day if we're not around :) Hopefully our travels don't mess up the good sleep patterns we've finally established with the kids!