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 :)