i love the barenaked ladies...and i love their song "who needs sleep?". what i do not love, is not getting sleep! i am one of those people who requires a good night's sleep in order to function the next day. i especially need sleep when my day includes handling a challenging 3 1/2 year old, who shall remain nameless...and an infant who naturally demands mucho attention. as you are reading this, you are probably thinking that my sleepless night was because jacob, (who will be 7 weeks tomorrow BTW!) kept me up. well folks, that is not the case! i have gotten used to, or at least partially accepted, the fact that jacob wakes up once to eat during the night. he's still a newborn and needs his mama's milk. BTW...it's usually around 3-4am, so if you're up then, you can know i am too. andrew has been sleeping through the night for YEARS and has never really had any trouble sleeping. so, you'll imagine my surprise, when recently, he has started having bedtime issues. like most kids, he procrastinates when it is time to go to sleep...totally normal! however, this started getting a bit exaggerated about a week ago. as we are leaving his room, he'll say "wait, i have to tell you something." he'll then tell us something...like, "i'm thirsty" or "i'm hungry." as we begin to leave, he'll do it again...and again...to the point where i'm walking down the stairs and i hear him saying "mommy, wait. i have to tell you something." eventually he'll realize that i'm ignoring it and he'll go to sleep. well, last night, this all reached new heights. the "i have to tell you somethings" were coupled with cries (screams, rather) of "i'm scared", "i don't want to sleep in my bed", "i want to sleep with someone"...and a few more. after reassuring him that he was fine and blowing him kisses to hold on to for the night, he eventually fell asleep...around 10:30pm. well, until i heard "mommy! mommy!" at 3am, that is!!! i went in to check on him and the cycle started again. after comforting him, i would go back in to our room, and hear the cries again..."mommy, mommy! i need you!" around 3:30am, derek went in, thinking i could get some rest before j-man would wake up for his precious late night snack. not so much...jacob was up and ready to eat. ok, fine...probably better that way, than to tease myself with some extra sleep. derek got andrew to sleep, i fed jacob and the house was quiet again....or so we thought. at 5am, we heard it again "mommy! daddy! i need you!" derek went in and took care of business, while i "slept"...if you can even call it that. jacob was up again at 6:30, ready once again, to fill his belly. at this point, i could barely keep my eyes open! just as i was finished feeding him and getting ready to doze off, andrew woke up for the day...and it was time to start my day...complete with a hyperactive toddler and a demanding infant.
"who needs sleep?"...I DO!!!
