Not so picture perfect...

Just incase you thought things were looking too good to be true around here...here is a dose of reality post for you. These are just a couple things we are dealing with right now.  Whether on vacation or at home they are some of the not so fun parts of our day.  

I am kind of breaking some major "no, no's" in the world of toddlerhood right now.  Caroline will be 3 in 2 months.  She is not fully potty trained.  She sleeps with a paci.  And she gets out of her bed everyday/night instead of sleeping.  Whew!  That either made you think I am crazy or made you feel better.  I am okay with either.  To make things even more crazy, the first two I mentioned do not even bother me anymore.      

"Because it is ok, they will not go to kindergarten with _____ ."  Everyone tells you this and you know, we are just taking that to heart right now. 

So, here is the deal:      

1. We attempted potty training in June.  The look on C's face in the pic on the left about sums it up.  Does she look interested?  Well, I thought she was interested and ready,  but that quickly faded after day two or three.  Potty training is not fun AT ALL.  Add resistance and it was pure misery! So, we dropped that without thinking twice and moved on.

Fast forward to July while we were at the beach, she all of a sudden decided she was fascinated (see pic on the right) with the whole thing! Like she had never seen it happen?! Kids are funny, you know!  We have made tons of progress and she is doing so much better!  Not 100% there, but I am fine with that.  My girl is too strong-willed to be pushed on certain things and this is a battle I do not feel is important or necessary to push on right now (although I will admit I would like to push it a lot of the time)!

2. I do not even know what to call this crazy phase with C right now because every day is a guessing game.  While we were at the beach several weeks ago, C had a night terror.  If your child has ever had one of these, they are awful and pitiful.  She has had one or two before, but had been over a year since the last one (until the beach).  Anyway, ever since that night, she has not slept the same and I mean drastically different sleep patterns. 

She is full of fear.  The emotions of this pure fear I see every night are heartbreaking.  We have had trouble pinpointing exactly what she is scared of and I don't not want to put ideas in her head and make it worse.  At first we thought it was the dark because she wanted all the lights on.   So, she slept with her lights on.  Below is a pic of her I took when I went to bed around 11pm.  All lights on!  Then, this started happening at naptime too and I knew it wasn't the dark.  So off the lights went at night.   

Then, we have encountered some sleep walking, a few more bad dreams, and LOTS of trying to walk the fine line of discipline and giving her grace.  Because even though I do not understand I can tell she is upset and afraid.  While, I mentioned it is heartbreaking, well it is, but it is also quite frustrating when we are exhausted and one of those things we just cannot fix.  

We think now the main source is just being alone and not totally understanding where John and I are when she sleeps.  She has always been curious.  She would not stay in her room much less her bed.  She is exhausted and not fighting bedtime or even sleep, just where she sleeps.  Some nights it is a major battle and others she is quiet and we find her sleeping all over the house...

On the steps

In the doorway.  This was at my mom's house and she was told not to leave her room, so she slept in the doorway.  Told you she was strong-willed.   

And at the bottom of the steps.  

This sleeping all over the house was making me crazy not knowing where I would find her.  So, this was our solution (see below).  I know it is a bit "cage like" and looks awful, but we didn't know what else to do?!?! This has obviously kept her in her room, but not in her bed.  She starts in her bed and we find her here every night when we come upstairs to sleep.    

I have asked tons of moms for advice and I am all ears!  

Let me know if any of you have had a similar issue. 

This too shall pass, right? 

Happy almost weekend!