Getting into a Routine

I finally feel as if we have our routine organized a little bit. So I am now able to think about the things I did when I lived in my old house -- like blog, or write, or read a little more. Things don't seem so crazy anymore, and I've gotten Tess back into a sleep routine, so she's not up all day, she actually takes two naps again and is down by 6:30 p.m. Owen is the one I worry about. He doesn't sleep. He wakes up in the middle of the night, comes into our bed, and kicks us all night long. It's as if he is this restless sleeper, and I can't imagine that he is getting much deep sleep; and of course, Erik is getting no sleep because of it (I routinely go to Owen's bed and sleep there, since it's a twin bed, and I can stretch out). But we have got to get him under control. I just don't know how. It's as if he sleepwalks into our room, but refuses to lay back down in his bed when we put him back. So he comes back into our room three, four times a night. It just seems easier to make room for him and let him sleep there, but I know that is not the solution. I've been reading all the sleep books, but there is nothing for a child who has a "syndrome" to tell me how to get him to sleep better. I know that it is affecting his learning during the day, all the textbooks point to that. It can't be easy on him. And the nights that he is so wired we can't get him to sleep until 10 pm., then he still gets up in the middle of the night and then at the crack of dawn again.

I asked some other mothers of kids with DS if they had the same problem and for the most part, they do. So, I guess there is some validity in that our kids have issues. I just miss my 8 hours of solid sleep! And I wonder, will this ever end? Will he be 18 and still not sleeping??

We went to Barnes and Nobles bookstore this afternoon for a story time hour featuring adults with Down syndrome. It's a program they have started because apparently the President or CEO of Barnes and Nobles has a child with Down Syndrome. There were a good 20 people there, and it was nice to see so much support. There were kids with Down syndrome in all age ranges, but also many of my friends from the MOMs group.

Speaking of the MOMs group, we have now grown to 26 moms, and we have such a great time every month. I started this group to find a community of moms for myself, and now it has become this great group of women. We meet the 1st Wednesday of every month, everyone brings a dish to share and wine (if they drink) and we meet at someone's house (we all rotate). This month was at my new house and what a great time we had! It's not even about the Down syndrome anymore, it's just such a great, reliable group of moms who have really hit it off. And we don't exclude anyone, every time we meet a new mom we invite her. So, it's really about the fact that we all share this common bond and it has made us sisters for life, in a way. I also have a list of all our contact info, so I pass that around and we all can then choose to make further contact if there is someone we especially bonded with. It's really an important group for me, because I feel as if I belong.

My parents come in town this week, and I'm so excited to see them and show them the new house. We finally have a guest bedroom, too, so they no longer have to try to sleep in the living room on the pull out couch. Plus, my dad is going to be so psyched when he sees Erik's new 52 inch plasma TV (okay, we are missing furniture in the kids bedrooms, but our old TV went bust so we spent a little more on the TV...where are our priorities, again?!)