Lately Benjamin has been our last child asleep at night and our first child awake in the morning—this is on top of still waking up a few times at night. He's still taking a nap every day, thank goodness (though only for about a half hour).
So, when friends say things about how their three year old is still taking a two hour nap every afternoon (that she has to be woken up from or she'd sleep longer) and still sleeps well at night, I kind of just shake my head and laugh to myself.
That's not my child.
You know who my child is? Anna, from Frozen, gives you a good glimpse into (two-thirds of) my children with this single quote: "The sky's awake, so I'm awake, so we have to play!"
Benjamin's constant question at bedtime is, "Tomorrowy...sun comes up?"
"Yes. Tomorrow and everyday. The sun comes up every day."
He'll ask this probably ten times a night. He's just so worried about it. And in the morning the first words out of his mouth are usually something along the lines of, "Sunny day! Hooray!" or "Sun did come up!"
A few mornings ago he actually woke up before it was even light outside. When he mentioned "sunny day" after I told him to lie down, he said, "Oh, not sunny day?"
"Not yet. It's still sleeping time."
"Me hear birds. Birds awake, me awake, too!"
And when he wakes up, he's so entirely awake. This morning he woke up when Andrew got up to shower, so Andrew just took him in the shower with him rather than let him wander the house and disturb everyone else, which was probably a fabulous idea because one of his favourite first-thing-in-the-morning games is to play "Santa's sleigh" on our bed.
He sits down on Andrew's pillow (because Andrew's usually the first one out of bed) and pulls the blanket up to his waist. He uses the top blanket as reigns. He bounces up and down while tugging on the blanket and yelling at the top of his lungs nonstop.
"Hey, hey! I'm Santa! 'Is a mine Santa's sleigh! 'Ook at mine 'eindeer! Hey! Hey! Hey! Me-ee Kissmas! Hey! Hey! Hey!"
This game always makes me giggle, despite how early in the morning it happens, because no matter how many times we tell him that Santa says, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" he just keeps calling out, "Hey! Hey! Hey!"
He'll stop playing Santa to tell me that the sun is up and I need to wake up, too. Then he'll move on to something else. He chatters the whole time.
"This is my phone! It's my capalator! Type, type, type! Me typing Gammy-Mom! I not say, 'Hi!' I just say, 'I go Gammy-Mom's house again?' Type, type, type. Me typing Daddy!"
"What are you texting me?" Andrew asked (because who actually uses their phone to talk on these days?).
"Me typing somepin' else Daddy!"
"What does it say?"
"Somepin' else. Me get down now!" he announced and ran out of the bedroom. Then he ran back into the bedroom. "I 'un tord a couch and...me burp!"
"You ran toward the couch and then you burped?" I repeated to make sure I got it right. Since when does he use words like toward?
"Yeah! Me 'un tord a couch and me burp! That's funny! Hey! Hey! Me Santa again! This is my sleigh!"
He nearly sat on my face trying to get into his sleigh.
"Hey, where's my pig?" he demanded.
"I thought you were Santa," I pointed out. "Santa doesn't have pigs. Santa has reindeer."
"Me? I'm not Santa. I'm Benja-him! I has a pig. Where my pig go? Huh? Huh?" he twisted around to look on either side of him and we eventually uncovered a tiny toy pig he'd brought with him.
So that was a little snippet of my morning.
In other news, all of my kids have a somewhat terrible cough that's been keeping them up all night. Rachel's just about over hers, I think, but Miriam was so miserable this morning that we didn't send her to preschool. Benjamin was up several times in the night, crying about how sick he was feeling, but—aside from coughing and coughing and coughing—he's being just about as wild as ever.
They've been watching cartoons since I left for my doctor's appointment this morning and it will probably just be a cartoon-filled day, with a little nap thrown in for good measure, though it's a rather beautiful day out and it will be our last beautiful day until next week sometime so perhaps I can convince the kids to get some fresh air as well.
So, when friends say things about how their three year old is still taking a two hour nap every afternoon (that she has to be woken up from or she'd sleep longer) and still sleeps well at night, I kind of just shake my head and laugh to myself.
That's not my child.
You know who my child is? Anna, from Frozen, gives you a good glimpse into (two-thirds of) my children with this single quote: "The sky's awake, so I'm awake, so we have to play!"
Benjamin's constant question at bedtime is, "Tomorrowy...sun comes up?"
"Yes. Tomorrow and everyday. The sun comes up every day."
He'll ask this probably ten times a night. He's just so worried about it. And in the morning the first words out of his mouth are usually something along the lines of, "Sunny day! Hooray!" or "Sun did come up!"
A few mornings ago he actually woke up before it was even light outside. When he mentioned "sunny day" after I told him to lie down, he said, "Oh, not sunny day?"
"Not yet. It's still sleeping time."
"Me hear birds. Birds awake, me awake, too!"
And when he wakes up, he's so entirely awake. This morning he woke up when Andrew got up to shower, so Andrew just took him in the shower with him rather than let him wander the house and disturb everyone else, which was probably a fabulous idea because one of his favourite first-thing-in-the-morning games is to play "Santa's sleigh" on our bed.
He sits down on Andrew's pillow (because Andrew's usually the first one out of bed) and pulls the blanket up to his waist. He uses the top blanket as reigns. He bounces up and down while tugging on the blanket and yelling at the top of his lungs nonstop.
"Hey, hey! I'm Santa! 'Is a mine Santa's sleigh! 'Ook at mine 'eindeer! Hey! Hey! Hey! Me-ee Kissmas! Hey! Hey! Hey!"
This game always makes me giggle, despite how early in the morning it happens, because no matter how many times we tell him that Santa says, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" he just keeps calling out, "Hey! Hey! Hey!"
He'll stop playing Santa to tell me that the sun is up and I need to wake up, too. Then he'll move on to something else. He chatters the whole time.
"This is my phone! It's my capalator! Type, type, type! Me typing Gammy-Mom! I not say, 'Hi!' I just say, 'I go Gammy-Mom's house again?' Type, type, type. Me typing Daddy!"
"What are you texting me?" Andrew asked (because who actually uses their phone to talk on these days?).
"Me typing somepin' else Daddy!"
"What does it say?"
"Somepin' else. Me get down now!" he announced and ran out of the bedroom. Then he ran back into the bedroom. "I 'un tord a couch and...me burp!"
"You ran toward the couch and then you burped?" I repeated to make sure I got it right. Since when does he use words like toward?
"Yeah! Me 'un tord a couch and me burp! That's funny! Hey! Hey! Me Santa again! This is my sleigh!"
He nearly sat on my face trying to get into his sleigh.
"Hey, where's my pig?" he demanded.
"I thought you were Santa," I pointed out. "Santa doesn't have pigs. Santa has reindeer."
"Me? I'm not Santa. I'm Benja-him! I has a pig. Where my pig go? Huh? Huh?" he twisted around to look on either side of him and we eventually uncovered a tiny toy pig he'd brought with him.
So that was a little snippet of my morning.
In other news, all of my kids have a somewhat terrible cough that's been keeping them up all night. Rachel's just about over hers, I think, but Miriam was so miserable this morning that we didn't send her to preschool. Benjamin was up several times in the night, crying about how sick he was feeling, but—aside from coughing and coughing and coughing—he's being just about as wild as ever.
They've been watching cartoons since I left for my doctor's appointment this morning and it will probably just be a cartoon-filled day, with a little nap thrown in for good measure, though it's a rather beautiful day out and it will be our last beautiful day until next week sometime so perhaps I can convince the kids to get some fresh air as well.
A is the last one to bed and first one up. It is annoying. I need some alone time. Who naps? My kids never nap past their second birthday.
ReplyDeleteA is the last one to bed and first one up. It is annoying. I need some alone time. Who naps? My kids never nap past their second birthday.
ReplyDeleteSo much yes. Though, I can still get Benjamin to take a little nap—but he spent a good time not napping at all (months upon months) earlier in his life.
DeleteThere is a new sunbeam in our ward who falls asleep during sharing time. Every week. His teacher just brings a pillow for him to collapse on and he sleeps on the floor the entire hour. The very idea makes me giggle. I can't even imagine having a child like that.
Well, we can safely say that Benjamin is not EXACTLY a mini-Andrew, because Andrew is a good sleeper. So Benjamin at least has some non-Andrew traits. I won't call that a Nancy trait because actually, Nancy was a really good sleeper. Abbi and Nancy could sleep. The other kids, not so much, although I would say that Patrick was better at it than the other three.
ReplyDeleteLet's blame Josie...although technically Myrna that means we are blaming you ;)
DeleteI will take that blame and own it! Because I do think my genetic heritage is to blame. My dad's brother, my Uncle Clyde, probably never slept more than four hours a day for his entire life. So...definitely some sleep issues on this side of the family!
DeleteOh my gosh I have this kid type, too! All of them! Magdalena is a little bit better, but they are all of the "oops I accidentally fell asleep but now I'm AWAKE AWAKE AWAKE" variety. Those three-year-olds taking their 2-hour nap before going to bed at 7...I wish.
ReplyDelete