To sleep, perchance to dream...

Why is it that the first question people ask you when they see your baby is "So, are you getting any sleep?"  I know I'm guilty of obsessing about sleep with my children, but do I really need to be reminded that I haven't had a good nights sleep in....well....a long time? That being said, today's post is not about my sleep (although I could continue to rant, I will spare you the waste of time because that will do nothing), its about noticing my children's sleep habits, and the silly things they do when they're tired.

Alie has been asking me for awhile if she can stay up for New Years Eve this year. Knowing how she gets when her sleep gets disrupted, I should have known better than to say yes, but she must have caught me in a good mood at some point, and I agreed that she was probably old enough to stay up this year.  Because Alie and our friend's children were staying up, I couldn't very well say no to Julian, even though I should have since he is only two and a half. So, after a night of excitement and fun, today was, what Mike calls a 'gong show.' Last night we were giggling as they were stumbling over their own feet and couldn't walk in straight lines because they were so tired.  Today, we were trying really hard not to get mad at the tears of frustration, anger, happiness, or really whatever emotion they were feeling.  At nap time, Alie was sitting in bed, crying uncontrollably, trying to convince me that she didn't need a nap, while Julian screamed and threw his toys around in the bottom bunk because he wanted to say a different prayer before going to bed.  My poor Alie has been emotional since birth if her sleep schedule is changed too much.  I remember wondering if she was possessed before I figured out that she just needed a consistent sleep schedule.  I was a Nazi about her naps until she gave them up at three and a half, because I knew tears would flow if she did not nap at the same time every day.  Julian is just a typical boy, and gets frustrated and throws/hits random things when he is tired.  I can deal with that better than than the tears.  So now, imagine an extremely messy room, two tired kids, one boy who gets frustrated and is throwing the toys in all directions, one of which hits his sister, sending her cries of tiredness to a pitch higher than I have ever heard. If you have that in your head, you have begun to see what type of day I had today. And that's only two of the three kids.

My third child was actually pretty good today, but then babies sleep pretty much anywhere if they are held, so last night wasn't that difficult on him.  Gabe even slept in his bed for a bit during the party last night.  His sleep issues really just come at night, and I'm not sure what to do about them.  Once he's asleep, he will actually sleep well throughout the night (with about 2-3 wake ups...I deserve this good sleeping as my first two were hell waking up every 1-2 hours for 6 months).  However, it takes him about two hours to get to sleep every night.  He's SO tired, and is trying to sleep while I rock and cuddle with him, but it still takes almost all evening to finally settle him into a deep sleep.  He's out by 9:30-10:00pm, but I spend hours before that trying to get him to sleep.  I just keep thinking that I am so lucky that Mike is home every night so one of us can put the two older kids to bed, and one of us can deal with Gabe, and try to get him to a deep sleep earlier than the night before. He's coming up on three months, so I think he may grow out of this soon, and it will be so nice to get my evenings back so I can finish quilts and scrapbooks that need to be worked on, and maybe even spend some quality time with Mike (there's a novel idea).

On the potty training front, we've had a few small accidents, but overall our three day intense boot camp has been a success!!! Julian wants to go pee in the potty because he can stand up to pee now, and he can mostly do it himself, so he feels very successful.  He has been diaper free for four full days now, and I have a really good feeling that this will be it.  Woohoo, only one left in diapers. Maybe Gabe will train really early (that's the dream part...).

I always wondered how parents were able to have more than two children.  I was so scared to move from 'man on man' defense to 'zone' defense, but we are finding it easier than we originally thought.  It helps that our older two children are quite a bit older, and more independent so one of us can deal with both of them without any problems.  I think once Gabe starts moving around, things will get busier, but for now we are making it through, and actually enjoying the journey.