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Night Time Antics

You know how kids come up with all sorts of excuses to not go to bed. They need a drink of water, they need to go to the bathroom, they need to make sure there's nothing under their bed or in their closet. My daughter is no different.

I share a room with Faith. We are finally getting her to sleep in her own bed at night. It is an ongoing process. I am proud of her that she can fall asleep all on her own. She used to need to be cuddled, rocked and sang to. Now I put her in her bed and she falls asleep, after about 30 minutes, that is. No matter how tired she seems, it always seems to take a while before she finally drifts off to sleep. My husband and I agree that she has brains like us - it's hard to deactivate them.

Last night, it seemed especially hard for her to fall asleep. Here is how are night went:

10:00 p.m. - I put Faith in her bed while she yells, "I want to stay awake, I don't want to go to bed."

10:05 p.m. - "Mommy could you help me out." "What's the matter?" "My hand is stuck." I'm sure it's not but I get up to check anyway in case it really is. It's not.

10:07 p.m. - "Mommy my sock fell off." I get up to check, both her socks are on her feet.

10:10 p.m. - Faith is thrashing, moving and scooting. (She is able to scoot while she is on her back.)

10:12 p.m. - "Mommy could you help me please, please, please. I'm really stuck." I get up to check. She has managed to scoot up to the head of her bed and is unable to go any further. I lay her back down in the middle of her bed and tell her she has to go to sleep.

10:15 p.m - More thrashing, making noise, singing, scooting.

10:17 p.m. - Rob comes in to tell her to be quiet and that she needs to go to sleep.

10:20 p.m. - "Mommy could you come over here again." This time I try to ignore her and pretend I'm sleeping. "Again, AGain, AGAin, AGAIn, AGAIN!" Each time she repeats the word it gets louder. I pick her up and sing the "I love you song" to her and tell her to try her hardest to go to sleep.

10:25 p.m. - All is quiet. Is she asleep? Her laughter answers my question.

10:30 p.m. - "Mommy what does the word 'fabulous' mean?"

10:35 p.m. - "Mommy could you come help me?" "What do you need help with?" "I need to sit up." "Try to go to sleep."

10:36 - whimpers. I pray she is getting close to falling asleep.

10:40 - laughter. I try not to laugh myself. Even at this hour, her laughter is contagious.

10:45 - quiet. Finally, she is asleep and I am able to fall asleep too.

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