January 1, 2013
Happy New Year!!!
In honor of the night without a lot of sleep; it makes me chuckle to think about how little, or rather, how random the sleep pattern is in this house. Just when I think I have the littlest guy in a rather peaceful slumber pattern something happens to mess him up or something goes awry elsewhere in the kingdom. Before he had the button, Bradley would put himself to sleep on his own at night. After the button, he couldn't turn and turn and turn again; not unlike the habits of your favorite puppy, until he found his happy place and finally went to sleep. After the button the tube allowed for one, half turn before the machine started beeping and we came running and had to unwrap him. We finally gave in to the fates and held him till he fell asleep, then lay him down for the night - there was still the turning that led to the wrapping that led to the beeping that led to the running....well you get the idea. So we started sending the tubing down his leg and that led to less wrapping, less beeping, more sleeping for us. Of course that was short lived...the Infusion Services Company sent a newer, more user-friendly pump that had a shorter tubing...more wrapping, more beeping. Good GOD! So then we figured some more and came up with the plan to lower his machine as low as it would go and then putting the tubing through the slats to him...more turning, but less wrapping, and way less beeping. Let the sleeping begin! And yet, no, not so much!
You see we have two other kiddos in the house. Turns out the oldest, occasionally sleepwalks. And if she isn't sleepwalking, she's talking. It used to be we would be roused in the middle of the night with the occasional sounds from her room, we knew she was saying something but couldn't make it out. And that trip down the hall we just had to make to see if we could figure out what she was saying usually brought us no new knowledge...she says her piece, turns over and goes back to sleep pretty quick. And then the other night she apparently wanted us to know what she was saying because we got her full name at the top of her lungs: perhaps one of her parents were yelling at her in her sleep??? Not sure why she would yell at herself, but then there are times she yells at her sister too. Maybe she just likes to yell and sound bossy.
The middle kid is a puzzle box in herself. Half the time I have to search for her at night because she has bunk beds in her room and she swaps out the bed she sleeps in at random times. She'll have bad dreams about spiders and ants...creepy crawly things. If she comes in our room she likes to stand over me and watch me sleep while she sends me telepathic messages that she wants me to wake up. When that doesn't work, she reaches out and pats me so hard it's like taking a punch; that gets me going. In fact, that one makes me rise out of bed, often hitting Eric in the process because I come up swinging. :-) Then there are the nights that she gets up and scampers through the house for the bathroom or whatever other nightly errand she feels the need to complete; and turns the lights on in the process! Good Grief!!!
What's the best though is when all the kids gang up on us on one night. We just had one of those about a week ago. We were up with Bradley because he was in the process of losing his battle to pneumonia. We didn't get him down before we heard a crash outside; drunk driver took out a lamp post on the diagonal corner from us. That drama behind us, little boy down, we hit the bed. About two hours later I wake up with a start because there is someone trying to leave the bathroom attached to my room. All I can see is this blurred image of someone ping ponging off the bathroom door frame, the treadmill, the dresser, the bedroom door frame and then I think a bookshelf in the hall and possibly her door frame before silence. As I get my glasses I figure that it must have been one of my kids not an intruder (no outside doors opened and closed - so I am hoping one of my kids!). Check Sydney's room, kid's out, breathing even. Go down to Madison's room, I think it's her because she's curled in the fetal position and her covers are folded back like she just got out of bed but forgot to cover up again. So I cover her up and she laughs, like Candace from "Phineas & Ferb," for any of you who know that particular cartoon...but it's really similar to "Heeheeheeheehee". I laughed out loud, but it didn't wake her up at all. Bradley laughs in his sleep too, only his laughing wakes him up. He saves that for Eric though, he'll fall asleep on Eric's shoulder, then laugh out loud, followed by sit straight up and ready to play! Boy, there is no play at 3 am!!! Anyway, turns out the ping ponger was in fact, Sydney. Quite the little actress that one...and quite clumsy as well.
But here's the kicker, despite how active they are at night, or lack of true sleep...Madison and Bradley are up with the sun! They are programmed in. Sydney; well, she's me in a smaller form. She can sleep like there is no tomorrow. She woke up at 9:30 this morning for the bathroom, I told her good morning and she looked at me and said, "Yeah, but I was thinking of going back to bed." I gave her my blessing and she went back to bed for about a half hour. When she loses sleep, she catches up, always. I'm trying not to be jealous, but well....why lie? HAHA
So Happy New Years! May your new year be full of health, wealth, and happiness...and well, a little extra sleep. :-)
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