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Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
one thing about more than one kid
One thing about more than one kid that I find fascinating is how they come from the same parents and yet are so very very different. Tonight was but one small example. Gareth has always been a sleeper. He took 3 hour naps twice a day as an infant. Then dropped to one nap, but it was still 3 hours. He was the last of his age group to give up naps. And even now, at age 6, probably naps once a month. At night, he sleeps like the dead. When I was night weaning Jonas the boys shared a room. One of the first nights, Gareth woke up from Jonas' all-out wailing. I asked if he wanted to go into another room, and he said no and then just rolled over. He can sleep through anything. (Likes naps, sleeps through anything --- apparently he really is my child). But, in the evening when Gareth gets tired, he gets antsy, like he can't still still. He cannot keep his body still. At all. And when something goes wrong (in even the mildest possible sense) he breaks down crying. His emotions simply overpower him when he's tired.
Then there's Jonas. As an infant, he took 20-40 minute power naps. I eventually got it to one nap about an hour and half long. At 3, he does still nap, but it is irregular these days. Luckily they are similar in that once Jonas is asleep he does sleep through most anything. I have been lucky that I have been able to transfer both sleeping boys from the car to their beds without waking them (usually). But their evening tiredness is sooooo different. When Jonas naps, he goes to bed around 9. When he doesn't nap, he goes to bed around 7:30.
Well, today he didn't nap. But I totally forgot. At about 8, I remembered, and he was asleep by 8:20. But had this been Gareth there is no way on Earth that I would have been able to "forget" that Gareth had not napped. Gareth's body and emotions would have reminded me about every 3-5 minutes. Jonas was just mellow. Subdued. Easy.
It's just simply fascinating.
one thing about more than one kid
One thing about more than one kid that I find fascinating is how they come from the same parents and yet are so very very different. Tonight was but one small example. Gareth has always been a sleeper. He took 3 hour naps twice a day as an infant. Then dropped to one nap, but it was still 3 hours. He was the last of his age group to give up naps. And even now, at age 6, probably naps once a month. At night, he sleeps like the dead. When I was night weaning Jonas the boys shared a room. One of the first nights, Gareth woke up from Jonas' all-out wailing. I asked if he wanted to go into another room, and he said no and then just rolled over. He can sleep through anything. (Likes naps, sleeps through anything --- apparently he really is my child). But, in the evening when Gareth gets tired, he gets antsy, like he can't still still. He cannot keep his body still. At all. And when something goes wrong (in even the mildest possible sense) he breaks down crying. His emotions simply overpower him when he's tired.
Then there's Jonas. As an infant, he took 20-40 minute power naps. I eventually got it to one nap about an hour and half long. At 3, he does still nap, but it is irregular these days. Luckily they are similar in that once Jonas is asleep he does sleep through most anything. I have been lucky that I have been able to transfer both sleeping boys from the car to their beds without waking them (usually). But their evening tiredness is sooooo different. When Jonas naps, he goes to bed around 9. When he doesn't nap, he goes to bed around 7:30.
Well, today he didn't nap. But I totally forgot. At about 8, I remembered, and he was asleep by 8:20. But had this been Gareth there is no way on Earth that I would have been able to "forget" that Gareth had not napped. Gareth's body and emotions would have reminded me about every 3-5 minutes. Jonas was just mellow. Subdued. Easy.
It's just simply fascinating.
Cami, having come from an orphanage, had very strict sleep habits and schedules. I'm getting ready to move her from our bed into her own room next door. I hope she continues to sleep as well as she does with us.