We are a Scheduled Family

We are a scheduled family. As of today. You can be praying that it stays this way. Derek and I decided on a plan to implement a schedule that allows Luke the same amount of sleep that he gets now, but makes it more regular and fits it into the day so that I get more sleep, myself. Starting today, and until Friday, I will be working very hard to keep Luke's daytime sleeping and eating on a tight schedule. Friday night we will tackle the night-time routine, and I predict several sleepless nights. My hope is that once we've got the days down the nights will come easier.

This morning Luke woke up at 7am, but he's not supposed to get up until 8am, so I left him in his crib where he talked to himself, getting progressively louder. Finally he found his Itsy Bitsy Spider toy under the blanket (I hang a blanket over the toy so that it doesn't distract him while he's trying to get to sleep, but so that he can take the blanket off when he wakes up). I sat up in bed when I heard the toy play the song "Itsy Bitsy Spider". Luke has only ever made it play the song once or twice, and totally by coincidence.

As soon as the song was over he pulled the spider down again and the song played again! I shouted at Derek, "You hear that?!" We were so excited and proud, he had figured out the toy! I laid back down in bed hoping Luke would stay happy at least until 7:30, now that he was playing with the toy. He really gets a kick out of toys that make noise, and his enjoyment makes me waver on my "No noisy toys" policy.

I am so proud that my son is figuring out how to work complex toys. But Luke kept pulling the spider down...and the song kept playing...and then he pulled it down and the song kept playing...and playing. I was less and less proud as the minutes wore on. I remember now why I don't like toys that make noise! Finally I got up and took him out of the crib just to make the music STOP, even though it wasn't in our schedule to get out of bed for another half an hour. Let's hope we can do better with the rest of the day.