Planes, Trains and Anything Else With Wheels

So Braden is talking... a lot...and his newest fascination is with anything that has wheels on it...well that and the trash. He loves to watch the garbage trucks roll through our neighborhood each Wednesday morning, so I think that feeds into his love for trash. But he does like to throw things in the trash (especially his diapers) and he loves wheeling the trash to the curb each week and especially loves picking up, or should I say he loves to watch me pick up everyone else's trash cans as we take our daily strolls down the sidewalks in my neighborhood. On a side note...I love these daily walks. Ever since Braden was newly walking, we would take walks down the sidewalks and talk about cars and birds and leaves in the fall and watch for over passing airplanes in the sky or listen for doggies. I treasure these walks together as I know like all of parenting, this too will pass way too quickly. My little guy isn't too interested in holding hands anymore, but occasionally, he'll reach up and say "momma" and just hold hands for no reason and I find myself smiling inside out of the delight that such a small little person can bring so much joy to my life. Anyway...back to things with wheels, Braden loves his cars and spends a lot of his time driving his cars around. He can say and recognize all modes of transportation...cars, buses, bikes (as he calls motorcycles), tractors, trucks, "guhn guhns" (as he calls trains), boats, airplanes and trash trucks (as he calls both dump trucks and garbage trucks). He loves it...so as you can imagine any car ride is now filled with him pointing and yelling out various names for things he sees on the road....well that and many a round of "If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands" blaring on the radio. Anyway...my little guy is 19 months and besides the early morning wakings (5:15 twice last week - ugh) he is an absolute joy. Here are some pictures of him enjoying his things on wheels:

Playing with his Thomas the Train set:
Running with excitement next to the real train at Centennial park a few weeks ago:
Watching alongside Tyson for the "trash truck" to come pick up our trash:
And here are some pictures of what the rest of our days have looked like around here:
Wanting to be just like "dadda" -
Feeding the ducks at Centennial Park -
And yesterday I bought Braden this little house like thing at a consignment sale and he loves it, so I decided that I had better clean it off for him so he could play in it. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I brought out a mop bucket filled with water around a 19 month old. He ran out of his "house" as he calls it and immediately started playing with the water. Anyway, he had so much fun...my floors and walls were COVERED with water by the time he was finished, but they had needed a good mopping anyway -

Why is it...

that my son only sleeps 9 short hours at night? yes, he goes to bed at 8:30 or 8:40, but wallows in his bed and talks to "puppy" and "moo" until 9, falls asleep, sleeps beautifully thru the night (thank goodness he's done this consistently since he was 3 months old) and then is up at 6 or 6:30 the next morning. Thankfully he will play peacefully in his crib until 7am, but still that means I can't go back to sleep b/c he's in there talking so much. Boo...that means not so much down time for Austin and I if we want to get 8 hours of sleep ourselves.

And why is it that my son has been up since 6:20 this morning and it is now 1:45 and he is still wallowing in his bed, talking, playing and not sleeping????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is truly a mystery to me. Now I've read every baby sleep book, researched all kinds of baby sleep issues on the internet and all I can figure is that my guy doesn't need it. But why? God, you know that I need more sleep than the average person, so how do I manage keeping up with a toddler who needs less, okay, much less than the average kid his age. In fact, if you really want to know, Braden sleeps less than most 3 year olds. We average 11 hours in a 24 hour period, isn't that what most of your kids sleep at night alone?

So here I am complaining that I am tired!!! And a bit frustrated with a kiddo that just doesn't need to sleep. Now you people who have kids that sleep till 8 or 9 and you know who you are, I have to confess that I am envious and jealous. In 18 months, I haven't slept past 7, except for maybe twice. And more than anything, I am envious that you put your kids to bed at 7, have 3 hours to yourself and with your husband and then off you go to bed, knowing you can "sleep in" until at least 7 or 7:30. Oh and don't forget that 2-3 hour afternoon break you get. Now Braden usually takes a good 2 hour nap, sometimes more and sometimes less, but my gosh, for only sleeping 9 hours at night, the boy should be taking a 4-5 hour nap to keep up with the average sleep needs for kids his age. Anyway, God is dealing with these areas of my heart...the envy and jealousy and obsession I have with trying to get Braden to sleep more. I just keep thinking that it is my fault. That I did something wrong. That I could've done something different to make my child sleep 12 hours at night like you did for yours. I know it is wrong and I pray that I can overcome this, because in the end, I wouldn't trade my guy for anything, sleep or no sleep, he is a gift, a blessing and an incredible joy to Austin and I. But if you are out there and reading this, please just say a little prayer that he'll start sleeping a little more :)