Dec 14, 2008

Sleepless in Dallas…
Ok, so I stole the title from the movie Sleepless in Seattle, but geez, I definitely fit the description. Elyssa will not sleep through the night. Because Elyssa has not sleeping through the night, I in turn am not sleeping through the night. Well let’s be more specific here, Elyssa is almost 21 months old, yes, almost 2 and has never, ever, ever consistently slept through the night. Ok, so on occasion once in a blue moon she has surprised me and slept through the night, but that is very, very rare and I mean rare. In fact I cannot at this time remember the last night she slept through the night. Now, what this means to me, is that I HAVE NOT HAD A FULL NIGHTS REST IN 21 MONTHS!!! I really, really would appreciate a good night’s rest. I mean I remember when I was pregnant, so long ago now, but anyway, I remember when my dr prescribed Ambien for me because I was having trouble sleeping. I used to sleep so soundly on those evenings. I remember what is like to sleep; I just don’t get to do it anymore. Even on those rare, and again I mean rare, occasions that she does sleep through the night, I on my own, wake up to check on her because I think there is something wrong that she has not gotten up. I know it sounds ridiculous but I think it is just being a mom. Not only does she not want to sleep through the night, she has started the “I don’t want to go night, night mama” phase. So as I type, tonight at 9:20pm, my beautiful daughter is climbing all over me “ruffing” like a dog, watching “Little Bear” on demand. I cannot for the life of me get her to lie down. I tried to put her to bed and she wiggles, squirms and cries. I know, lots of mom’s are into the “let them cry it out” theory, me, no way. I never want my daughter to think I am not there for her, so no crying it out in this family. So I will remain “sleepless in Dallas” till this phase passes.
I think we have officially hit the terrible 2’s and we have not even celebrated our second b-day yet. She has definitely started the tantrums and the my way or no way antics. I can honestly say there are days I want to rip my hair out. Again, I know this is a phase she is going through and this too shall pass, but man, it sure can wear a person out. I have started with Time Out, redirecting, and explaining to her that some things she does is just not acceptable, but when was the last time you tried rationalizing with an almost 2 year old. She certainly is an independent person and at such a young age. A friend of mine told me the other day “Wait till she is 13”, yeah, geez, I can’t wait (said with a great deal of sarcasms)!
This weekend we took her to a Breakfast with Santa at Aunt Tonia’s church. They had cookie decoration, crafts, a bounce house and ball tosses. There was also coffee, juice, donuts and etc, but of course Elyssa would not eat a thing or drink anything. Of course my little girl would not go near Santa, just cried and said “no, no, no” so again no pictures with Santa but she had a blast none the less. She loves the bounce house and of course balls are her favorite toy these days. Aunt Tonia and JT played the bells also while we were there. It really was a great morning and daddy was there so that made even better. It really is so hard with him travelling so much these days. Today when we dropped him off at the airport Elyssa was awake and she waved “bye-bye” to him and blew him kisses, it was actually kind of sad. I really think she understands that he is leaving these days. Of course when he gets home this week, he will be home for a few weeks and for that we are very, very thankful!