Cry It Out

Well, we took Carter to the doctor again Thursday afternoon. His recheck for his ears wasn't scheduled until next Wednesday, but Carter had been sleeping HORRIBLY for the last few nights and very fussy. We figured his ear infection had to be just flaring up like crazy the way he was acting. The doctor checked his ears and was pleasantly surprised to see they were both very clear. So, we said- "what the hell..." What is wrong with this child then? We explained to him that he had been getting up twice a night and not going back to sleep very well- making for very tired and crabby parents. He said that it is time to try "crying it out". This is not a new concept for me, but to have a doctor tell you to do it and how. It make it a little different. He said that since Carter is now 6 months old he does not need to eat in the middle of the night, so to quit doing it. He said to lay him down drowsy, but not fully asleep and if he cries to wait five minutes, go in and comfort him then lay him down- again, drowsy, but not asleep. Last night at bedtime we tried it and it took from 8:00-8:40 for him to finally be fully out. In the middle of the night he woke up at 1:05 and I was back in bed for good at 2:04. Not too terribly horrible. Tonight I laid him down about 8:00 again and he finally was down at 8:45. We will see what tonight has in store for me!

Caleb has his 2nd Bam Bam Baseball game tomorrow. We missed last week's because of Caleb's party- it was picture day too- that sucks. We were outside playing all night tonight. The weather couldn't be more perfect right now. Tonight the wind was barely blowing and the temperature wasn't too hot or too chilly- even the bugs didn't get bad until the sun went down. We ate supper out on the deck, then went over to the ball field to watch the big kids play softball. Caleb kept yelling "Go, Go, Gooooo!" To whoever- especially to the "opposing" team. He is funny.

Work is going really well. Wednesday was our first day and I worked from 6:30-6:00! ugh. We went through all of the rules repeatedly with the kids and I was a true hard ass all day to them, but Thursday and Friday they were angels! I couldn't believe it! Of course we still had our issues, but they were minor. We went on our field trip today. We ate lunch at a park in Ames and played on the playground and played group games, then we went to the fire station. The kids got to see where the firemen sleep when they are on duty, the fire pole- which we weren't allowed to go down :(... and they got to walk through the back seat of the fire truck. The firemen on duty were real crack-ups. They were really razzing one of the "rookies"- which made it very entertaining for us staff. :)

6 more days until we leave for New York! I can't wait! We leave Thursday morning and return Monday afternoon. My friend Joanne who we are staying with emailed me an itinerary for our weekend with her!
Thursday night: Driving Tour NYC
Friday day: Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island/Downtown
Friday night: Time Square/Walk around
Saturday day: Subway ride/Airtram/Central Park/Walk around
Saturday night: Greenwich Village/Walk Around
Sunday day: China Town/Little Italy/ Walk over Brooklyn Bridge (?)
Sunday night:
Monday morning: Beach
I am so excited! It will be nice to actually have a grown up vacation and get to see somewhere I have never seen before. Now I can also relinquish the guilt I feel for being such a one way friend to Joanne. She always has to come visit us when she comes back to the Midwest and this way I won't feel guilty anymore that I never visit her. Well, at least not as guilty! :)

I wonder what types of souvenirs I should buy the boys- any ideas? I want them to be collectible, not junk.