Teething and nursing OR Why no one is getting any sleep.

Teething continues. And this time around it's no picnic. Not like teething was a picnic with Penelope, but it wasn't quite the clusterf**k it is this time around.

Maybe clusterf**k isn't the right word. But I can't think of anything better right now.

Griffin's sleep is crap. He's constantly got something in his mouth. I've been bitten four times already tonight (and not on my hand, he likes to use milk-producing parts of me as a teether). Last night Bryan took him so I could get some sleep, I've been waking up with monster headaches in the morning and I needed to get at least a solid six hours. The boys stayed up until G fell asleep at 11:20 and he thankfully slept until almost 5. The night before G was up at least 4 times to nurse and was very restless, it wasn't fun for either one of us.

I think that part of it is my supply. While I've been lucky to nurse this long I think my supply is starting to dry up. I still have milk, but we need to supplement more and more with formula. Part of this is also that G is getting bigger and just needs more food, but my supply can't keep up either way. It's a little sad, but not unexpected. I really hope that at the very least I'll still be able to nurse him overnight. But then again I really hope he starts sleeping through the night soon. Like tonight.

I'm pumping while at work - on my prep period - and it sucks. I hate it. I have 1,000 other things I would really like to use my prep period for, one of which is observations of other classrooms. It's part of what student teaching is all about - observing more teachers will only help me improve my own teaching practice. But when I have to take 15 minutes out of prep to pump it makes observations difficult. I also have grading and planning I could use the time for, but those I can do outside of school so they're less of a priority.

There is one good thing about pumping. It guarantees that at least once a day I get time completely to myself. I can read a little, I can listen to music, I can (sort of) relax. And while I think of my kids all the time, it gives me an opportunity to really stop and think about what they're doing.

Because while I love teaching, I love my kids more - and I miss them during the day.

But my student teaching gig is going well. There are frustrating days and moments, but those just happen anyway. And the more proficient I become at classroom management and planning the less frustrating things get. I haven't yet taught a lesson I think is 'perfect', everything could use a little tweaking and improvement. Not to say that I haven't had some great days, because I have. But I learn a lot about how to improve even from the great days. The day I stop trying to improve my teaching practice is the day I need to stop teaching.

It is time consuming though. We're constantly busy. Between my student teaching, my coursework, Bryan's job, and Bryan's school (plus everything else kid-related) we don't have a lot of downtime. We juggle so much that a fair amount has been put on the back burner. Things like vacuuming and laundry... and date night. Since G is still breastfed at night we haven't had a kid sleepover at my parents in quite awhile. So Bryan and I haven't been out together since... well, I can't remember when. November is our next scheduled date, for the opening of Harry Potter. Although since that falls on a Wednesday night we may not be able to make the midnight showing - I have to teach the next day. We'll see.

I also neglected to blog about turning 29, but since it's just a warm-up to 30 we really didn't do a whole lot to celebrate it. I'm more excited about the kids' birthdays than mine. 29, big whoop.

I do have other things that I've been meaning to blog about, like parenting decisions (we've decided not to circumcise Griffin for a variety of reasons), thoughts on my credentialing program, lawyers (and why we've decided not to sue my former employers), and the fact that we're contemplating moving out of CA once I have my credential (anyone in other states know of a school district that's hiring English teachers?).

I will try to blog soon. The operative word is try. I have a couple of TPAs due, lesson plans to write, papers to grade, and babies to parent. This list is obviously not in order of importance :)

Oh! Penelope got her first black eye today. She was trying to grab something out of reach and smacked her head into the "table" (i.e. TV tray) we have next to the couch. It's not super dark, but it's noticeable. I will attempt to locate our camera to document this latest "first".

AND Griffin is sitting up on his own. Only for 10 seconds or so, but still.