The Sleep Wars, Part 1

Night 1.

The battle between AJ, sleep and me continues. Friday I decided I had enough. No more would I sleep on AJ's floor. The belly is too big to sleep comfortably on a soft surface, so the floor is no more. Plus, there is no good reason why I should be there anymore anyway. She is fine, not sick, not teething, has had plenty of time to get used to the transition from crib to bed. It's not justifiable anymore. So, Friday...yeah

M or I, I have no idea who actually started the night off, but through one of us, AJ ended up in her bed after falling asleep on the couch. This is the usual way of things in our house, bad habit I know, but it's what has worked for 2 years, so don't fix what ain't broke, as they say.

Like clockwork, 2 hours later, around 11:30PM, AJ wakes up. She calls for Mama and heads to the baby gate that is locked at her doorway. She begins to yell for me. I get up and get AJ back to her bed. Tell her this is her room and I'm going to sleep in my room. She is adament that I should be sleeping right at the side of her bed, but I hold strong. Not this time honey.

After calming her down, I tell her I'm going back to my room. She is quiet until my head hits my pillow (how do they know that exact moment?). Calling for me again, running to the locked gate again. I get up again. This time, I don't go into her room, but stay on my side of the gate. Tell her to go to sleep, and when she stops crying I walk away and back to bed. I tell M I'm giving her 5 minutes to fight and I'll go back. So, after 5 minutes of her screaming her fool head off, I go back to my side of the gate. Repeat directions "go to sleep. You sleep here, I sleep in my room" and after the "I love you, good night", I head back to bed, telling H 7 minutes this time.

So now we're on 7 minutes of screaming. This isn't the regular I'm annoyed type scream. Oh no, not AJ, she goes full out "someone just ripped off my leg and is beating me with it" type of scream. At one point I asked M when he thought the blue lights would appear out our front door (the windows were open and since we can hear the pet bird in the apartment complex across the intersection from us, which means we have 3 neighbors even closer, they can definitely hear the screams).

After watching the clock tick by 7 minutes, I go back to the gate and repeat above procedure. Then go back to bed for another round. 9 minutes this time. Yep, same scream, same thoughts through our head. We move to 11 minutes. Instead of going back to bed I ask M if he can sleep through the fight. Of course being the man that he is, he informs me he can. Ugh! So I close the bedroom door and head to the couch, at least one of us will be rested the next day.

So where was I, oh yeah, 11 minutes and me on the couch. Finally the horrid screaming has stopped, but the fight continues.

13 minutes, then 15 minutes. Now instead of just screaming, she has gotten trickey. She starts with Mama, repeat a good 10 times. Then moves to Daddy, repeat 10 times. When niether of those requests are met with the adequate answer, i.e. something other than me telling her to go to sleep, she changes tactics. Juice, repeat 10 times. Hmm, that didn't work, how about Milk, repeat of course. Nope. Challenging, but not to be deterred, ah, now she knows, Potty, repeat. She was less than impressed when this was met with me calling back to her, you're in a diaper, no need for the potty. Foiled again.

After asking for things didn't work, and we're on the first of the 15 minute intervals she goes for obvious with "Mama, I stuck. Open it." in a very calm voice.

After the second 15 minute interval goes by and she still isn't getting what she wants, she starts another approach. It's known in our house that AJ will not sleep without Doggie (a pillow pet) and Blanket (a blanket my mother made for her before she was born). These are a given, and no matter the heat level in the house, she WILL NOT sleep without these items. So what does my little stubborn princess do? Why, throw Doggie and Blanket over the gate of course. Now she feels I need to either get them for her or let her out so she can get them herself. Ah, she's a smart cookie that's for sure.

Finally, 2 hours and 23 minutes later... silence. She has actually fallen asleep. During the night she wakes up enough to call for me, like she always did when I was sleeping on her floor, and since I was closeby in the living room still, I tell her to go back to sleep. She does!

When I walk past her room to the bathroom I see where she fell asleep. Right in front of the gate with Doggie and Blanket. It's so sad.