Sleep

Today (Last night's) rule: I will wake up as early as I can and be really loud and annoying.

11 pm: I go to bed for some desperately needed sleep

1 am: "Mommeee, mommeeee, MOMMEEE!!!" this is followed with tugging on the blanket because yelling mommy at one o'clock in the morning is not quite enough to wake me up in his little boy mind. (he may have a point since his daddy did not wake up during this episode) It's way too early for me to process anything other than "annoying little person trying to disturb my sleep" Therefore I do what any good parent does at 1 am and I lift him up on the bed so he can curl up between us, kick daddy in the back (still no movement from my other half) and finally after a lot of twisting and turning he falls asleep with his foot in my neck. I figure I'm super smart so I pick him up, shuffle my way to his room, get him into his bed, go back to my bed, promptly pass out. It's about 1:45 am.

2:45 am: "Mommeeee, Mommeee, MOMMEEE!!!" more blanket tugging, no movement from the other side of the bed. Grab M's hands, pull him up, pray he'll go to sleep. He twists, turns, huffs, kicks and then about 3:30 he starts to cry. Loudly. Loud enough to finally wake up the spouse, who rolls over and attempts to comfort the spazzing toddler by putting an arm around him and trying to cuddle. It didn't work. Actually I think it made him cry louder. Now it's my turn to suck it up, pick up the tired writhing mass and shuffle off to the living room hoping to get some sleep on the couch.

4 am: lying on the couch, pretty sure I could sleep through a  marching band in my living room. M will not lay down with me. Instead he has declared his independence and is sitting straight up halfway down the couch with his feet in my belly. He passes out and starts to droop sideways. I manage to move him so he's lying down by me, he wakes up (of course he does) but he's too tired to fight it now so he goes back to sleep. I attempt to sleep which is pretty difficult because I'm on the couch, have M kicking me and a 75 lb dog trying really hard to cuddle on the other side of me.

6:30 M has woken up and there's no way he's going back to sleep. I get up, make him a bottle, turn on the morning news, turn on his bedroom light, watch my spouse get up, crawl back on the couch and try to pretend I'm sleeping. It doesn't work. Now I have a dog nudging me to go out, a cat purring and kneading me because I'm up so I might as well pay it some attention and a little boy trying to give me every toy that exists in his room (at least that's what it feels like as he brings me one after the other)

I fought it until just after 7 at which point I broke out the really good coffee (the stuff you save just for these kind of days because it's too powerful to waste on a regular day)

Today I am putting the side of the crib back on so there will be no more MOMMEEE's at 3 am. Or if there are, I know he's safe in his bed and I can just go back to sleep. Screw the toddler bed.

I did not think of this myself. This was my logical spouse who said "Why don't you put the crib back on, it's not like he could get out anymore" Huh, why didn't I think of that.

Fingers crossed we will sleep with no interruptions tonight.