Remember when we used to sleep?

Allow me to reminisce for a moment...the year is 2004, and it's a Friday night. Jeff & I are watching a movie on TV, and both fall asleep on the couch. We wake up around 2 a.m., and go upstairs to bed to resume sleeping until 9 or 10 the next morning. And later, if we felt lazy, or if we were just bored, we might even decide to take an afternoon nap.
Fast forward to May 2008:
Last night, I opened my eyes and literally saw the clock every hour. It was awful. And almost every time my eyes were opened, I'd look over and find Jeff also awake. We'd both roll our eyes and grunt in a caveman-like language that's reserved for 3 a.m. and somehow we both knew it meant, "I'm exhausted. Remember when we used to sleep?" After a night like that, you just know that neither of the kids are going to sleep in. If anything, they'll wake up even earlier. Murphy's Law and all that. Sure enough, Jacob was up at 7 a.m. to begin his morning routine: pee on the potty, ask to watch a cartoon (this morning's choice was Spiderman), and enjoy his first cup of milk. He asks for milk 5 minutes after waking up. It's like his morning coffee.
Jeff often finds himself responsible for meeting Jacob's demands at this hour since he's up getting ready for work. Sometimes I'm up, but other times (like this morning), Alex & I are still lazily passed out in bed until 7:30. Or if I'm REALLY lucky, then 8:00. I hope I've thanked Jeff for doing that. If you're reading, Jeff, and in case I forget to say it later, thank you! Most of the time I really do sleep through all of that activity. Every now and then, I pretend I'm still asleep, and then, lo & behold, I actually do fall back to sleep. But maybe I shouldn't admit to that.
Poor Jeff is probably wondering how I managed to delegate the bedtime & overnight responsibilities associated with Jacob. What happened to the nights we'd hear Jacob crying over the monitor, and Mommy would run to the rescue as Daddy continued sleeping (snoring) peacefully? And what about all those nights that Mommy would get Jacob ready for bed and stay in his room until he fell asleep? I know what happened...Alex! To be fair, Jeff started helping when I was about 7 or 8 months pregnant, huge, and hormonal, and had a crying spell when Jacob wouldn't fall asleep one night. Ever since then, he took over the bedtime duties. And since Alex was born, I'm solely responsible for his bedtime routine & overnight sleep (or lack thereof), while Jeff manages Jacob. So now, when Jacob wakes up in the middle of the night and runs to our room (often bringing his own pillows and tossing them on our bed), he snuggles in beside Daddy. Now Jeff knows what it feels like to lose 3/4 of your side of the bed. It's a good thing we have a King (thanks again, Pam & Sam). The 4 of us often make good use of it.
Sleeping with 2 kids does have its advantages. For example, it's really sweet to cuddle up with your child since he won't always be young enough to want to lay with you. It's also nice to watch your child sleeping before you drift off. However, at other times, it is a bit like a game of Dominos. One person moves or changes position, wakes up their neighbor, who then rolls over and kicks their sleep buddy, who in turn shifts and inadvertently smacks the last person in the face. If you're really lucky, you sleep through all of this. But last night, we weren't lucky. We were just constantly awakened by our 2 wild, restless children. Before we moved, Jacob was sleeping great in his own bed, rarely coming to our room. I really just think his nightly visits are due to the unfamiliar surroundings. He'll probably get used to his room in the apartment just before we're ready to move into the new house. And then we'll start this process all over again.
I absolutely love, love, love having children. I might even be up for a 3rd (but that's another post). But I sure do miss my sleep. And while that's not the toughest part of having kids (I think the worry and fear that something bad will happen to them is), it sure ranks up there. So all we can do is yawn and remember why we had these kids in the first place. Because we love them more than anything. Because they give the best hugs & kisses of anyone I know.


Because they make us so happy. Because they seem to enjoy having us around too.



Because they're sweet, precious, adorable, loving, funny, smart, and all around awesome boys...who occasionally don't like to sleep. I guess these dark circles under my eyes and almost constant feeling of fatigue is worth it after all. :)
Is it bedtime yet?

P.S. Don't feel too sorry for Jeff. Being responsible for getting Jacob to sleep at night also means you can take a nap from about 9 p.m. until 11:30. That ain't bad.