Sorry for the redundancy to all of my FB friends, but for those of you who don't already know, Jaxon has insomnia on a serious level. He wakes up half a dozen times through the night for no reason other than to play. He's wide awake an hour after going to bed, and almost on the hour through the night. We find him downstairs playing with his trains at 1...2...3am. He asks me to turn on movies for him and asks me to come watch him play. Seriously child, it's the middle of the night.
It's getting to the point that it's worse than having a newborn. I'm sorry to complain, but sleep deprivation does some serious things with your head, mind, spirit, and attitude.
We were at the doctor this morning for Cohen's 2 year well child visit (which went great! He's in the 50th% for height and 40th% for weight), and when she casually asked me how Jaxon was doing, tears started welling up in my eyes. This Mama is tired.
Before I could even finish, she interrupted me and told me "I want you to cut out red dye #40 from his diet." Um, what? No offense to anyone who already does this, but I really have always assumed people that believe that food coloring affects us was a little over the top. But after spending the last 2 hours researching it, reading articles, and gathering info from friends... I am ready to make the leap. I'm not going hardcore and freak out if someone gives him candy or food with it in it, but if I can make small changes at home to help him, I will.
So many of the articles also linked bad/aggressive behavior in kids to food dyes as well. I hope this will also help deter some of the negative behavior we've seen from him as well. He is very aggressive when he's upset, so it makes sense to me.
And now, the hard part, making the change. Have I ever mentioned how horrible I am with change?
Pray for me as we go through this transition, I feel overwhelmed thinking about it all and cling to this scripture:
If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father.
He loves to help.
James 1:5a (The Message)
And after reading Kristal's post from today, I just want to go wake up my babies, sit on the floor, and soak them in. The days of our babies needing us are flying by, quicker than we could have ever dreamed.
Earlier in the day I told my Sister that I needed to blog but had nothing to write about. She told me, just post a picture of your tree! So this one's for you, Kallie Sue.
These are their new ornaments the boys picked out this year... I love this Christmas tradition so much.
On the plus side of my day, my Mom comes tomorrow night. You know how Mom's have that magical touch to make everything just a little bit better.
You could also google bi-polar disorder in children. The aggressive behavior is a key.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Sherri - I definitely don't think he has bipolar, but you're right that aggression is an indicator. His aggression is more stemmed from a little bit of OCD that he has, just like his Mama. :) I am working with him to learn how to properly react when things don't go the way he thinks they need to go.
DeleteYour tree is beautiful. I loved picking out ornaments when I was growing up. I can't wait for Olivia to actually choose next year. This year, she would have taken all that she saw :). Thinking of you, Mama.
ReplyDeleteyour tree is beautiful!! I'm pretty sure Shane has the exact tractor ornament, but of course its red ;)
ReplyDeletelove you sister!
I'm sorry you're having so much trouble with the lack of sleep. That is just awful! There's a reason that sleep deprivation is a form of torture. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteI hope cutting out the dyes help. I am one of those people who always says we need to change our diet but then we never do. I just don't know how. I know there is terrible stuff in what we are eating but ugh, I just don't know how to cook. And that make's it really tough for us to eat healthy.
I love your tree! Just beautiful!
First of all, I'm so sorry Megan!
ReplyDeleteSecond of all, I *totally* feel you on the lack of sleep and being emotional. The other night, something relatively small happened, and I just CRIED. And then I cried more because I was crying and it had been three weeks since Rebecca was born and the doctor told me when we left the hospital that it was normal to be emotional for two weeks, but not much longer...and I was freaking out wondering why I was still emotional at night. And THEN Justin reminded me that I've been averaging like 2 or 3 hours of sleep a night, and anyone sleeping that much (or little, rather) is going to be extra emotional.
So in a weird way, it was a little nice to see that I'm not alone there ;)
Oh I am so sorry. I am not saying it is the same, but Luke still gets up three or four times a night(he has never slept consistently), and I am seriously at the point where I just get so ANGRY. And then I am the woman who is angry at her child. I dont act on it, but I feel it, and it feels so wrong. It is so awful to feel this way, you just underestimate what exhaustion does to you. And yes - it is worse now than when we was a newborn. I no longer have the adrenaline rush of a new baby to help me - now its just...ugh.
ReplyDeleteANYWAY - Im sorry this is happening, and I hope the changes help!
And your tree is lovely!