The adventures of a guy, a girl, and their little companionS: sleep... or lack thereof.

So Riley has ALWAYS been a fabulous sleeper. She napped great, she slept through the night... it was just great all around. Well she has progressively been getting up a little earlier and a little earlier. 7:00 was no big deal... 6:50 wasn't even THAT big of a deal during the week because we were up. But homegirl was even doing this on the weekend. Since she isn't caged up in a crib like her brother, she just rolls on out of bed and comes in to our room.

Well... this week she's been waking up at oh 5:45 or so. WTH child????? No ma'am. That just ain't gonna work! Tuesday morning I put her back in bed, she was quiet, and I dozed off. Ryan gets home from the gym and Riley is cleaning the floors with some white vinegar and water spray! Oh and she also had sent an IM to my friend Mollie which, I'm sure, was QUITE confusing to her several hours later. I mean that clearly isn't going to work. Last night she was fighting going to sleep until 11:15! 3 hrs, folks. THREE HOURS. Everytime I'd think it was quiet and go to head back to the room to tuck her back in before I went to bed... there she was standing in the door way. When I went to sleep I thought, "well at least since she was up so late, she'll hopefully sleep in." NO. No she did not. She was up at 5:40! Ryan put her back in bed... she cried, "no mommy do it!" Dang it. I'm changing my freaking name. I am only responding to mommy during select hours from here on out. And, FYI, none of those hours will include between midnight and 7 a.m..

So today I played hardball... kind of. Our fabulous nanny put her down for nap about 1 (of course she was so whiney all morning) and I got home from work early and got her up from nap about 2:55. We played, had a snack (argued about not having 50 million snacks), went to the chiropractor to visit Dr Wimmer to see if we can continue to keep Asher ear infection free, came home to argue some more about how dinner was almost ready and we weren't getting snacks, ate dinner as a family, and then bath time. We had a small injury, but she survived. Then bed time. I *think* she has finally fallen asleep, but who knows. She SCREAMED at the top of her lungs for an hr and 15 minutes. She got her books taken away (ALL of them) b/c she threw one at me when I said that it was bed time and nearly lost her babies, too.

Let's hope that going to sleep at a reasonable time (8:30, finally) means she will sleep until a reasonable time. I think we're going to get hardcore about shortening nap time or making sure that she is awake before 3 p.m. because these evenings cannot keep on like this. It's exhausting for everyone. When she is getting her way or not exhausted she is SO much fun to be around. She is sweet and oh so loving. She adores being with people - especially her brother - and absolutely adores making people laugh. She is such a joy. But then there are nights like this week.

Big changes will be happening this weekend. Hopefully that'll help, too.

Now Asher boy. He's been eating around the clock like CRAZY. He may be going through a growth spurt. Hopefully. He did ok traveling up to visit my side of the family last weekend. He was very clingy and wanted to be held by me and me only. However, when I was holding him, feeding him, or he was sleeping... all was well. Once we got home, he was so happy and happy to be put down. So the constant on the go up there was probably overwhelming.

I adore these babies. (and it's not that I favor Riley... it's that Asher was sleeping during the egg hunt on Easter. I'll get some pictures when he wears (both of) his Easter outfit(s) again. Don't worry)