What a Day!

What a day... I don't really know where to start.

This morning was nice. Jon had a really good sleep and let me sleep in, even though it was his turn. Then I got to go out and do some errands with my mom, child free. I know, a sad life when going to Canadian Tire and Walmart is exciting. I came home to both girls asleep in their room... TOGETHER! Super Daddy!

I'm kind of scared to post about this for fear of jinxing things but after that really rough week last week with both girls, this week has been awesome! Both  girls seem to be feeling settled. They are happier, getting along better, sharing, playing together and sleeping! Both girls are sleeping great! Do I dare say that we have figured it out?

The key?

For Sofie it was the Queens of the Stone Age Rockabye Lullaby's. Great album. No words just the music played really well in a softer way. Sofie loves it. We just turn it on the iPod quietly beside her crib and leave her. She falls asleep in less than 30 minutes for naps and night! I know all the attachment and adoption books say to do some style of co-sleeping in the beginning. We did variations of co-sleeping for 2 months now,but they haven't consistently worked. We slept with her in our bed in Bulgaria but she wasn't comfortable and neither were we. She tossed and turned and woke frequently. We tried sleeping with her in her big girl bed until she fell asleep, but that was inconsistent and took almost two hours of her poking at us to get her to sleep. The crib worked better and we would lay down beside it on the floor until she fell asleep but that would still take over an hour and she frequently would not nap. Bed time was very inconsistent too. She just usually just tried to get our attention. Now, we just leave her with the music. She sleeps at night and for naps! It is a God send!

For naps we keep the girls separate. Livi naps with one of us in our bed and Sofie falls asleep with her music. Livi has been fighting us to get to sleep, particularly at night. She has every reason and behavioral tantrum to not go to sleep. So the secret to her? We bought her a little book light and let her read for 30 minutes. She is quiet, excited to go to bed and reads until the time we tell her and then goes to sleep with no questions asked! Amazing! How did it take us this long to realize that she is an avid night reader like her daddy?!

Peace, quiet, serenity, and Mommy alone time starting at 8 pm sharp (sometimes even 7:45pm)! Ahhhhh :)

I've realized both Livi and Sofie are very emotionally connected to my emotions. I know that most kids have this to a degree with their caregivers but I'm not sure if most kids feed off the caregivers energy quite like my kids. I knew I was in sync with Livi. It is something between birth mother and daughter. There is nothing like it. We almost feel each other's feelings sometimes and know when there is something wrong with the other. Like a twin thing. I always prided myself in knowing what my baby needed or wanted and gave that credit as to why Livi was always such an easy baby. I read her well. With Sofie, I didn't expect the same type of bond so quickly or even at all. I didn't even notice it at first. My mom pointed it out. Then Jon said something and I started noticing it a lot more too. Sofie and Livi almost feed off of my emotions, much more than Jon's. If I am happy and relaxed, they tend to be. If I'm frazzled or upset, they have tantrums. My week of PMS was the week they were both ridiculous. I feel bad for Jon when all three of us get our periods at the same time!

Sofie being so connected to my emotions, I think, is a really good sign of a positive attachment. I don't know if she has picked it up so quickly because I do tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve or because she is following Livi's lead. Either way, I think it is mostly a good thing. It leaves a lot of responsibility on my shoulders though. I need to remember to keep care of myself better, for there sake. Jon has been supporting this too. I don't think he wants another week like last week either!

After the naps today, I took the girls to Sofie's very first play date at a friends house with two little boys and two dogs. She has never really seen a dog before. She did amazing! At first she was nervous and clung to me while the kids ran around and made a ton of noise. After a snack and me sitting with her in my lap in the play area she relaxed! At about the hour mark she got off my lap by herself and even tried to play with a few toys! The new puppy crawled in to my lap to replace her and even though she was afraid at first, she was petting it by the end and happy about it!!! I was so proud of her :)

I came home to a stressful evening though. We had our house being hooked up to the new sewer line in our neighborhood yesterday and today. Yesterday, we had come home to not being able to get in to our door because of the dirt they piled on our walk way. We live in the basement of the house so our door is on the side. Thankfully, I live with my mother and had the key to the front door. I was a little annoyed that we hadn't been warned about this but got over it. Today I came home to the "completed" job which apparently means my walk way caked in dirt, so much that you can't decipher it from the ground beside it. The yard that they dug up is all lumpy and uneven, with mounds of grass and dirt in various places, plus the thick cement lid to the septic tank that they filled laying in the middle of our yard! The hook-up guy has a very nasty voice message that he better answer tomorrow morning.

Expecting to come inside for dinner, we realized that even though my wonderful husband had put dinner in the oven and set the temperature, he had failed to actually hit "start" and dinner was still frozen. (As I am typing this I just asked if he had put the lasagna back in the freezer and nope...still in the oven six hours later. Awesome.) Then, as I was putting some of the girls clothes away, I discovered the source of the odd smell in the corner of their room. Our cat has been repeatedly peeing on my daughters' shoes! Argh! So gross!

Because of the dinner fail, I did get to have sushi for dinner so the night wasn't all bad. And, the girls went to sleep at 7:45pm with out a peep! I got to watch my delicious vampires and doctors on Thursday night television!