When Andy was a baby he slept really hard. He still does. He slept through the night by 12 weeks and anytime he fell asleep anywhere we could carry him back into the house and put him in bed and he wouldn't wake up. We could even change him into his pajamas and he wouldn't wake up. It was awesome, but a huge wake up call when we had a second child that didn't do that. At all. Sarah was a horrible sleeper and didn't sleep through the night consistently until she was a few weeks shy of her first birthday. If she fell asleep in the car, she would wake up as soon as the car stopped. You would never even think of adjusting her clothes, let alone changing them, while she was sleeping.
Just like most things, Amanda is more like Andy. She will sort of wake up when you pick her out of the car seat, but she'll quickly get comfortable on your shoulder and will curl up in a ball and go back to sleep when you lie her down. I'm not sure about changing her clothes because for some reason we really haven't had to do it much with her, but I think she'd wake up long enough to help you out and then just go back to bed. Easy enough.
Last night was a perfect example. It was around 6:30p and we were on our way home from dinner and she fell asleep. She hasn't truly napped in months but she still needs one or two a week, so when we are out after 5p there is always a risk that she is going to fall asleep in the car. When we got home I took her upstairs and put her in bed. Goodnight Amanda, done for the evening. Or so I thought.
Just after midnight Charlie woke me up to tell me that Amanda was up. He needed to get up for a flight at like 5a or something so I went to see what was going on. Otherwise I would have pretended I was asleep and let him take care of it, ha ha. I went into her room and she said she had to go to the bathroom. Understandable, since she didn't get to go before bed and drank a ton of milk at dinner. I helped her go to the bathroom, wondering if she would notice that she wasn't in her pajamas, and then tucked her back in bed.
I went back to my bed and not ten minutes later I heard her crying about something. I thought it was because she wasn't tired anymore since she had been asleep for almost six hours. No, she was upset that she was in clothes and not pajamas. How could anybody sleep in clothes?!? I told her it was okay, but when she started to cry harder and I was worried that she would wake up everybody, I got out some pajamas and helped her change. Again comparing the other kids, Andy would have done the exact same thing (if he had even woken up), Sarah wouldn't have cared less.
I tried to go back to my room again, but she asked me to lie down with her. Ever since we've moved I've gotten into a horrible habit of lying with her while she falls asleep. I never would have done it with the older two, but when she cries she keeps them up and it's much faster to just stay with her for a few minutes until she falls asleep instead of listening to her cry for 30 minutes or longer. Yes, bad mommy, I'm usually too tired to care.
So while she was under all her comfy blankets, I had to find room for me in her twin bed that has no extra blankets for me and no pillow. Luckily, Mommy Lotso's big fat strawberry belly makes a wonderful pillow. I may have been cold, but I had something to put my head on. I stayed with her for about 20 minutes until she told me I could go back to my bed. You heard me, after awhile she just said, "You can leave now." Yes ma'am.
Of course a few minutes after that she had problems finding her sippy cup and then after I fixed that she had some other problem until finally Charlie told me to just bring her into bed with us. Which really only creates problems in the long run but solves the immediate issue of her crying and whining and us being too, too tired to deal with it in a patient and loving way. Besides the fact that something about cramming her face right into mine and wrapping her arms around me makes her fall asleep in 0.01 seconds. It sounds sweet and adorable but it's not so much. However that is one of the things that I do admit I will miss when she gets older and she doesn't want to cuddle with me anymore.
The rest of the night is pretty unclear except that Charlie told me I was snoring so loudly he had to go sleep on the couch and Sarah walked up to the side of my bed at 7:05a completely dressed and demanding breakfast. Should I be happy that she got herself ready or annoyed that she won't sleep in?
Anyway, I took Amanda to the park today so she would be extra tired tonight and she fell asleep within minutes so hopefully my bed belongs to me this evening and I don't have to share my pillow. I don't mind if she visits every once in awhile, but I definitely don't want to make it a habit.
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