More Sleep Deprivation

I scanned back through my old blogs to see how long it's been since I complained about not getting enough sleep. It's been long enough, time to vent again:

The past month, basically since before school started, we've been having the tag team twins of early morning madness keeping us on our toes (and stubbing them in the dark!). It seems like the past 3 weeks it has been every...single...night. Sometimes, it's Liv; other times it's Grace. Sometimes, one kicks off the other and we get both in the ring at the same time (I have to check the WWE rulebook, I'm sure two in the ring at the same time is not allowed).

All this leads to some pretty unorthodox sleeping arrangements. Grace is a restless sleeper and it's not uncommon for her foot to wind up in my face or for her to fall asleep sprawled out over the both of us. Our remedy is to send her out to the living room on a kid's futon with Linda on the couch. On more than one occasion I wake Linda up in the morning, looking for Grace, only to realize that she's curled up at her head like a cat or scrunched behind her wedged like a puppy in a brood.

Liv is another animal. We do have and use Clonidine to calm her down if she wakes up, but we like to leave a gap of at least 4 hours before she has to wake up. So before 3:30, we can use it, after that; one of us has to deal with her antics because she will often go 2-3 hours before konking out. I'm usually the one taking the hit on that, Linda escapes to the couch. It's interesting trying to sleep while holding on to a toe or holding her in place. Interestingly enough, she has the most 'pop outs' during the night and she will frequently go through her list of words she knows and I will respond in kind. "Da da, juuu" "No, I'm sorry honey no juice, go back to sleep".

The only other saving grace is that Liv will not open the door and come out. Grace though, will open the door and will request the door be open whenever she's conscious. So, it'll be Grace that will show up at our door in the middle of the night like a ghost. Liv will just take advantage of the opportunity to get out as well. Her preference though, is to go in the living room and turn on the lights and TV (THAT'S a wild wake-up call!).

A week or two ago, I heard Liv on the monitor, went to open the door, only to find both up like Pop Tarts (uh ooh better explain that reference to a link, in case Pop Tarts are not a global thingy). I stood there for a minute trying to get my logistical brain to function. "Two girls up, where should Livie go? Is it past 3:30? Are there any potty accidents to consider?". I can't remember much about that night, I only know that Linda and I had two different bedmates in the morning...

It really sets a bad tone in the morning, being down 2-3 hours, especially when Linda has her bursts of energy after they go to bed and winds up staying up late catching up. This morning, it was Grace who was up at 5; getting her to rise at 7:15 is like raising the dead, since she can sleep on anything in any position. I took away her blankets...no movement. I stood her up; she leans back on the couch and sleeps half standing. Finally the thing that aroused her was "Grace, do you want pink game?" Grace is absolutely addicted to Nintendo DS and we try to limit her; but these are the occasions you hold it back for, and we did get her up and ready for the school bus.

Sometimes there are reasons, like Grace having an ear infection 3 weeks ago; sometimes we just scratch our heads as to why and what is causing them to wake up. We certainly hope that it's just a restless spirit and not a pain and discomfort reason. What makes it difficult is always the lack of communication to tell us when there is something really wrong; when it's just a nightmare, or a bathroom urge or a thirst or whatever. Jason will wake up probably more than once a month, but we usually get the scoop (although sometimes he's a walking zombie talking nonsense).