An update on sleep and exploring Bull Creek

A few posts ago, I was pretty deflated with how things were going with Pearce's sleep routine without his BBs.  Pearce was saying he was scared of being by himself in his room, wanted his door left open, wanted the lights left on, and did not want to take naps.  I think I felt guilty about BBs, so I went along with his requests, but after a while, I knew this just wasn't working.  He would stay awake in his bed until after 10:00, sometimes 11:00 at night because his door was open and he kept looking out from his bed to see us.  Plus, I was feeling like I couldn't do laundry or other things around the house because he would hear me.  After talking to Mom, she gave me the advice I knew, but needed to hear.  I had to put my foot down and say the door has to be closed at night, and lights off.  I needed to tell him there were no monsters at our house, nothing scary at our house or in his room....only silly, happy, fun things were at our house and in his room.  I told him all of this and told him his room is the same room he's always slept in.  That he had always liked his room and had never been scared.  The only thing that's different now is that he doesn't have his BBs, but that's because he's a big boy now.  I told Pearce he had always slept with his lights off and his door closed and that's how it's going to be from now on.  I was firm, but convincing, I guess, because Pearce said, "There's no monsters here? Oh, ok."  I just had to reassure him and that was it.  I mean, it was seriously that simple.  Thanks mom!!  As far as naps go, those are definitely over.  It was exhausting trying to convince Pearce to take a nap and stay in his bed.  Again, after talking to my mom, she said for me to just let him give up his nap...not worth the fight, but let him have quiet time in his room instead.  It was nice to have her say it was o.k. to do that.  She has a way of wording things in the best, most positive way :)  So, the next day, I told Pearce he did not have to take a nap, but that he did have to stay in his room and have quiet time so that Mommy can have a little break.  He was all about that!  I mean, when I told him he did not have to go to sleep, but that he did need to stay in his room and play quietly, he perked up and said, "Oh, ok Mommy, I can do that!"  So, that's what we've been doing.  Usually around 2:00ish, I tell Pearce it's time to go to his room and rest.  I made some "quiet time boxes" for him with various games, books, and activities.  Pearce will choose a box and then just play for the next hour or two.  Lately, he's been wanting Otis and Daisy to stay in his room with him which actually gives me a little more time :)  At some point, Pearce will usually ask for a snack, so I'll bring him a snack to have in his room.  All in all, it's worked out just fine.  Because Pearce is no longer napping, that meant he really needed to have an earlier bedtime.  So now, Pearce goes to bed by 7:00-7:30.  This does make it harder for Chris to see Pearce in the evenings sometimes, but Chris agreed that Pearce really does need to get a good night's sleep, so a lot of the time, Chris will go to work a little later in the morning and get Pearce up and have time with him in the mornings.  I'm so relieved we've found our new normal and that it's working out just fine!! 

Now, Bull Creek!  I love doing new things with Pearce.  I saw a write up about Bull Creek a few days ago and decided Pearce and I needed to check it out.  Chris was out of town and we had no plans for today, so it was the perfect day to go exploring.  I packed us a picnic lunch and off we went.  When we got there, we found the creek with perfectly clear water and rocks all around.  Lots of people were out with their dogs and kids.  The dogs and kids were loving playing in the water and Pearce could not get his water shoes on fast enough!  He went right in....the water was COLD, but he didn't care.  He had so much fun throwing rocks in the water and just wading in the water and walking up and down the creek with his walking stick :)  After a while, we walked a trail for a bit.  Then we came back and ate our lunch on the rocks.  After some more wading and rock throwing, it was time to go.  We were right by Waterloo, so since we had the whole day open, I decided to stop there to let Pearce play in the sandbox and on the playground.  By the time we left, Pearce was one tuckered out little guy....which was exactly my plan :)  We had such a fun day and Pearce was more than ready to get in bed at 7:00!

Valentine's Day at Sea World!

I got to spend Valentine's Day with my two special guys at Sea World!  Chris suggested we go to Sea World for the day, and I could not have been more excited!  Pearce kept asking if he was going to see Dumbo and sharks :)  The drive down wasn't bad at all.  Took us right around 2 hours.  The park opened at noon, so we got there at 11:45.  The weather was absolutely perfect and because it was not during a busy time, it wasn't very crowded, either.  Ash told me the main things that she thought would be good for Pearce and then the rest of the time, we just kind of explored.  Our first stop was the Sesame Street play area.  There were several little kid rides, a huge climbing playscape, and a splash pad.  After giving Cookie Monster a big hug, Pearce wanted to go to the splash pad.  Thank goodness I brought an extra change of clothes!  I felt like we were prepared for the day, except for the fact that I did not bring Pearce's swimsuit.  I really didn't think they would have the water areas open, but they sure did and Pearce loved it!  After that, Pearce rode the rides.  Our first one was the Shamu Express which was a little roller coaster.  Loved it!  Next, we rode a crazy sea urchin ride, but Pearce loved it too!  Then he wanted to ride something "that went way up high."  So he rode an Elmo ride that went way up high and he rode it all by himself!  After the rides, he did the climbing playscape for a while and then it was time to go see our first show.  We saw Shamu's Story.  Pearce sat through the whole show and was just mesmerized.  Then he started saying he wanted to go swimming with Shamu.  I told Pearce he had to know how to swim in order to swim with Shamu and the trainers, thinking he wasn't serious and that answer would satisfy him.  He said he does know how to swim because he takes swimming lessons.  He would not let up about wanting to go swim with Shamu, so finally I just said, "Ok, Pearce, I'll ask at the end of the show."  So, Pearce kept watching the show, but every few minutes, he reminded me that I was going to ask he could swim with Shamu.  So at the end of the show, Pearce said "Ok, mommy, go ask if I can swim."  So, Chris said he would call and ask.  Then Chris said "Sorry, buddy, they said you have to be older than 3 years old."  Oh man, Pearce's world came crashing down.  He cried and cried and was totally disappointed.  I mean, if he could have put on his floatie and jumped in with Shamu, I think he totally would have done it.  We cheered him up with an ice cream cone and then started exploring the rest of the park.  We saw the alligators, the dolphins, and the big fish and sharks.  Pearce kept talking about sharks, but when we saw them, he did not want to get close to the big windows at all!  We also found another neat playscape that Pearce did not want to leave.  What's so funny is that he did love seeing the animals and riding the rides, but we could not get him to leave those playscapes!  At 4:45, it was time for our last show.  We went to see Azul which had dolphins and Beluga whales, plus divers and synchronized swimmers.  This show was really, really neat.  Pearce loved watching the divers do flips off the high dives.  Then he started in on wanting to go swim with the dolphins.  Oh, dear Lord, not again :)  After the show, Chris took Pearce to the Sesame Street play area while I raced to ride the two biggest roller coasters there.  They were so scary, but sooo fun!  On our way out, we had to stop at the gift shop to get Pearce a stuffed Shamu and one other toy.  He chose miniature sea animals for the bathtub.  We had such a great time at Sea World!

Daytime Highs, Sleepytime Woes

The Good:
The past few days, the weather has been so nice out!  Pearce LOVES being outside no matter how hot or how cold...makes it hard on Mommy because I don't particularly like either extreme.  On Sunday, Chris and I took Pearce to the park and we had so much fun watching him play and make new friends.  Pearce has no problem going up to kids, no matter the age, and asking them to play with him.  He played by himself for a while and then made his way to the sand pit where several kids were playing, including an older girl who was 13.  He walked right over, sat down and started talking away.  Chris and I watched from a distance and saw the 13 year old girl, who we later found out was named Lena, talk to Pearce and then Pearce asked her to take his shoes and socks off, which she did.  We couldn't hear what they were talking about, but we could tell she was soooo sweet to Pearce and the 3 other younger kids sitting in the sand pit with her.  She buried all of their feet in the sand, built sand castles with them, and they just had the best time together.  After about 30 mins, Lena had to leave.  I went over and told her we had been watching from a distance and that we were so impressed with how sweet she was to all the little kids.  She just smiled and said she loves little kids and loved helping Pearce :)  Pearce played and played for a while longer and then we decided to go get ice cream with Pearce's Baskin Robbins gift card from his birthday.  I got him a giant ice cream cone....waffle cone with two scoops of chocolate chip ice cream, with sprinkles, of course!  He was in Heaven!

On Monday, our playgroup met at Austin Science and Nature Center.  The weather, was once again, beautiful!  I had never been here before, but had heard great things about it, so I was excited to explore with Pearce!  We met our friends at the Dino Pit first.  The Dino Pit is a huge sand pit with dinosaur fossils.  The kids had fun burying them in sand, uncovering them, and digging holes.  They played there for a long time and then we decided to walk around the rest of the center to see what we could see.  Pearce, Gunnar, and Boden latched on to each other, so it was fun watching them calling each other's names, walking together, and just acting silly together.  We walked the trails and looked at the animals.  It was really a fun place to go to be outside and explore.  Can't wait to go back!

  
The Bad:
So it has been a little over a week since BBs went bye bye.  He doesn't ask for them anymore or cry for them anymore, which is great!  He does great in the car and doesn't ask for them in the car, either.  BUT, his sleeping has definitely gone downhill, like way, way, WAY, downhill since we got rid of them.  The days of me rocking him, singing to him, and putting him in bed in less than 10 minutes are LONG gone.  The days of him staying in his bed are LONG gone.   The days of him feeling safe and comforted in his room are LONG gone.  He now likes for me to tell him stories, which is fine, but it's always "Just one more story, Mommy, I promise..."  After I would tell him a million and one stories about him being a baby, or about a Razorback, or about our day, it would be time to try to put him in bed.  He would usually start crying at this point and I would have to start the negotiations.  When we first took BBs away, he started wanting his night light on, ok, that's fine.  Then he didn't want his sound machine on, ok that's fine, too.  Then he started wanting us to leave his door open.  All of these changes were in the span of a week.  When I started asking him what was wrong and why he wanted the light on, door open, sound off, he said it's because he doesn't want to be by himself.  He wants the door open so that he can see us.  He wants his sound machine off so that he can hear us.  He said he's afraid monsters and snakes are going to come in his room.  Chris and I said we have to be patient with Pearce because BBs obviously had the magical power to make everything ok, and now that he doesn't have them, he has to adjust.  We agreed to leave the door open, but then he started getting out of bed.  One night, he did not go to sleep until 11:00 because he kept getting out of bed.  Chris even went in and said that's it, the door is going to be closed, but then Pearce took off his door knob guard thingy and still came out!  Finally Chris made a deal with him and said, either the door is closed and night light on, or door stays open and night light off, BUT, you have to stay in your bed and when you fall asleep, we will close the door.  I think Pearce liked having a choice because he chose for the door to stay open (until he fell asleep) and night light off.  I was worried he would still get out of bed and that I wouldn't be able to do housework because he would hear me, but he went right to sleep.  Before I went to bed, I closed his door.  Then when Pearce told us the next night that he didn't want to be by himself and that he was scared, Chris told him that Fred (from Scooby Doo) had set traps all around the house and that no monsters or snakes can get in the house.  Pearce liked that story.  Pearce was sleeping with his Toy Story dolls, but they started not helping him, so Chris gave him his Simba lion and told him that Simba would protect him while he was in his bed.  Pearce loved this, too!  So, now Pearce sleeps with Simba.  I finally feel like we have a new "normal" for night time sleeping.  I now tell him I will tell him one story, read one book, and sing one song.  I make sure to tell him this is the LAST one and when I am finished with the book, story, or song, we are going to get in bed and say our prayers.  I don't give in when he says "Just one more Mommy, I promise..."  Usually, he will cry when it's time to get in bed, but I just tell him it's night night time now.  Then we say our prayers.  Usually, he wants me to say a prayer for him and I always pray for him to have sweet dreams.  Sometimes, Pearce will say a prayer for Nay Nay and Charlotte.  Then I tell him that Fred has set the traps and nothing bad can come into his room.  Simba is going to protect him and make sure he has sweet dreams.  Then I ask him if he wants the door open and night light off, or door closed and night light on.  He always says door open, night light off.  He usually tells me to tell him that I will come check on him, so now I add that in.  I give him a kiss and start to leave.  Usually, he will start crying and tell me not to leave.  I say, "Pearce, I'm going to give you one more kiss, and then I'm going to leave your room.  I will check on you later."  He usually cries again, but surprisingly (for the past few days) he stays in his bed and doesn't come out after me.  We will hear him talk to Simba for a good while before eventually falling asleep.  After he goes to sleep, I close his door for the rest of the night.  Because the whole "sleep" process is longer, I try to start earlier whether it's for nap or nighttime.  Just writing this out was exhausting....imagine living this whole process!  Whenever I heard my friends talk about the exhausting process of bedtime, I always thought to myself "Thank goodness that's not me!"  I had to eat those words big time.  At least I feel like we have made a new routine that works for us and for Pearce.  It does take longer and have more steps, but we are firm with what we have come up with and Pearce gets it, for the most part....just took us a while to figure it all out! 

Bye Bye BBs

Pearce has had two special blankies since he was born.  He always had a paci and loved his paci, but from about 6 months on, he dropped the paci and started sucking on his blankies.  Later on, he named them BB or sometimes he would call them "Brown BB and Blue BB."  Eventually he and BBs were pretty much inseparable.  He slept with them, took them in the car, held them when he watched TV, wanted them next to him when he ate...you get the point :)  I started noticing his front teeth were starting to have an overbite around 1 1/2.  He went to the dentist for his first visit around this time and his dentist asked if he still had a paci.  I said no...he has BB and at that moment, Pearce got BB (the brown one) and stuffed it in his mouth to start sucking on it.  The dentist just looked at me and then said "Ohhhhh."  Well, he said he really needed to stop by age 3 and that if he did, his teeth would almost 100% go back to normal.  I didn't think too much about it at that time.  By age 2, the overbite was definitely more noticeable and again, the dentist commented on it.  I kept thinking, I still have another year.  Then in October after his 3rd dentist visit, I decided I have to start limiting his time with them to make it easier to get rid of them when he turns 3.  I just didn't let him have them when he went to bed.  He cried and cried, but then eventually went to sleep.  I was strong for a while, but slowly, he was able to talk me into having them for a nap here and there.  And then we would go out of town, so he needed them because he was sleeping somewhere different....eventually, he had BBs pretty much 24/7 again and he just could NOT stop sucking on them.  I would even sneak into his room and take them after he was asleep, but he started waking up at night crying for them.  I was weak.  So now Pearce is 3 and I decided we just have to get rid of them for good.  I was totally dreading it, but I just did not want to feel any guilt if he ever had anything wrong with his teeth and I didn't listen to his dentist.  I first thought that I would "lose" them and then it's quick and if they're lost, then there's no way he can have them.  Then I decided that would not be fair to Pearce and he needed to be aware that BBs were going to go away.  Several friends suggested the BB Fairy...just like the Paci Fairy.  The BB Fairy will take his BBs and send them to a new baby who needs them and in return, leave Pearce some special prizes.  So, last week, I started talking to Pearce about the BB Fairy and how he is a big boy now, so he doesn't need to suck on BBs anymore and a new baby needs to have them.  He actually liked this idea.  At one point he did say that the BB Fairy could have his Blue BB and he would keep the brown one.  At first, Chris and I thought that would be ok, but then I decided that it has to be both.  I decided Friday was going to be the day.  Chris had a dinner to go to and I wanted to do it my way.  Plus, I thought doing it over the weekend would be easier.  I let Pearce skip his nap on Friday so that he would be extra tired that night in the hopes that going to sleep without BBs would be easier.  That afternoon I told Pearce that the BB Fairy was on her way and that we needed to put BBs in a special bag.  He was so excited!  I told him to give them hugs and kisses and I took a few pictures of him doing this.  Then he put BBs in the bag and we walked outside and he put the bag by the door.  I told him to close the door and we would check in a few minutes to see if the BB Fairy came.  It took him a while to close that door.  Then after he finally closed the door he ran to the front window to see if he could see them.  Then he wanted to open the door again to check on them.  I told him to go play in the backyard for a few minutes and then we will check to see if she had come.  He went outside and that's when I did the switch.  I quickly got BBs and hid them in the garage and then put his new toys in the bag.  Then I went to the backyard and told Pearce that I thought the BB Fairy had come.  He ran to the front door and was so excited when he saw his bag of goodies!  He got a Transformer, superhero slippers, a superhero cup, and a giant container of Tic Tacs :)  He loved his Transformer!  We had to go run a few errands and then I told Pearce I would take him to Chick Fil A for dinner to celebrate the BB Fairy.  Pearce wanted to take his Transformer with him in the car, so I thgought great...he'll play with it and not want BBs.  Well, before we could even get out of our neighborhood, Pearce started crying and saying he wanted BBs...the crying got louder and louder and more desperate.  I just kept telling him that we don't have BBs anymore and that the BB Fairy took them and will give them to a new baby to love on because he is a big boy now.  Well, after that, for the whole drive, Pearce kept crying and saying "I don't want a new baby to have my BBs, I want BBs, I don't like the BB Fairy, I be on the look out for BBs..."  He finally calmed down when we got to Chick Fil A and had fun playing and eating dinner.  Then we got home and I started getting him ready for bed and my heart rate started rising.  As soon as we sat down in the rocking chair, Pearce just lost it and started crying HYSTERICALLY for BBs.  I mean, I have never heard him cry so hard.  He would not even let me hold him or hug him or love on him.  He was crying and thrashing and saying "Mommy go get BBs, tell BB Fairy to bring them back, I don't like babies, I need BBs, I will just love on BBs, I won't suck on them, Go find the BB Fairy, etc..."  This went on for a good 30 minutes.  My heart was breaking for him and I literally had no idea how to comfort him or make him feel better.  Nothing I did or said helped him and I was on the verge of tears, also.  Then, all of a sudden, Pearce stopped crying and said, "Mommy, Jesus so proud of me I give my BBs to a boy baby."  I told him yes, Jesus is so proud and that I am so proud of him and that when he starts to feel sad about not having BBs, he just needs to say a prayer to Jesus and ask Jesus to make him feel better.  Pearce finally calmed down.  I asked if he wanted his Toy Story dolls to sleep with him and he really liked that idea.  So I put Pearce and Buzz and Woody and Jessie in bed and got them all tucked in.  I asked Pearce if he wanted to say a prayer to Jesus and Pearce said yes and prayed, "Dear Jesus, I miss BBs, help me feel better. Amen."  It took everything I had to not break down in tears.  I kissed Pearce and and told him I would check on him later.  I left his room and then had my breakdown.  I've never not been able to comfort Pearce and it just totally broke my heart.  BUT, Pearce never woke up during the night and still slept until about 8:30 the next morning.  On Saturday, Pearce took an ok nap....wasn't as long as it usually is, but he did go to sleep just fine without BBs and still wanted to sleep with his Toy Story Guys.  Saturday night, Pearce asked for BBs and cried about them, but then we started reading books and that took his mind off of them.  Then we just started talking and I asked him questions about his day....what was his favorite part of the day, what made him sad, etc...  He also asked me to tell him a story about when he was a baby...first time he had ever asked that.  I told him about the time I forgot to put the brake on his stroller and he rolled down the sidewalk and over the curb and the stroller toppled over...he LOVED story and I had to tell it to him a gazillion more times :)  I put him to bed with his toy story guys and he wanted me to say the prayer for BBs.  I said "Dear Jesus, Pearce is sad about BBs, please help him feel better. Amen."  He started crying again, but it was just a quiet cry and he asked me to come check on him later.  I left his room and had myself another cry.  Sunday night was pretty much the same.  We said the prayer together again.  He took longer to go to sleep for his nap....I realIy hope the naps get better!  I know it will get easier, but it's just so heartbreaking for me.  I know it had to be done, and I am glad I won't have to worry about him sucking on BBs, but I just hate for him to be sad about them.  Chris told me to wash them and then put them in a container in the attic.  I told him I would put them in a container in the attic, but no way am I washing them!  I don't want to get rid of his special smell on them.  I'm probably the only one that loved how they smelled, but I don't care. NOT washing them! 
 

A few last pictures of Pearce with BBs

 

 Getting BBs all packed up.

 

 

 

Excited (at the time) about what the BB Fairy left him !

 I took this picture last night.  Several hard nights, but at least the Toy Story gang is helping Pearce get through it :)