Sleepless in Seattle

Nora is on a sleep strike.

For the past few weeks Nora hasn't been sleeping through the night, or going to bed anywhere near her bedtime. We have taken to keeping a banana and a sippy cup with water next to our bed as we prepare for the inevitable 2 AM wakeup call.

April's theory is that she is going through some kind of growth spurt now, which may explain why she eats twice as much as she did a month ago and why her sleeping schedule has gone out the window.

To give you an example, here's how it went last Thursday :

7:45 PM - Nora's behavior becomes erratic, her mood swings from one extreme to another in a matter of seconds. The official proclamation is made..."Time for bed!!"

8:00 PM - Bedtime routine. Put on jammies, kiss everyone goodnight, brush teeth, read books in the rocking chair. Nora lays down in crib.

8:15 PM - Nora, thinking this "going to bed" game is fun, re-arranges her stuffed animals in the crib and tells them that it's time to go "nye nye," while carefully covering them with her blanket. Once April leaves the room, she realizes that the gig is up and starts to scream. "mommy maaaa, mommy maaaa, mommy maaaa!!!!"

8:32 PM - The screaming continues, with increasing levels of intensity. She tries calling out the names of anyone she can think of, including Daddy, Auntie Pea, Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa...

8:50 PM - One of us finally breaks down and picks her up out of her crib, takes her out into the living room to watch TV.

9:20 PM - We try the routine again.

9:42 PM - Exhausted, she finally stops screaming and goes to sleep.

12:35 AM - We are jolted out of bed by sudden, ear-piercing screams.

"Should we get her?"

"mmmmmrrph?"

Time passes. The screams get louder.

"We gotta just let her cry it out."

More screams.

"@%&#$*." April gets up.

12:40 AM - April goes and brings her into our bed, hoping she will calm down.

Suddenly, it's playtime. April tries her best to explain to Nora that she needs to be quiet..."Daddy's sleeping!"

Nora finds this amusing and repeats it over and over again..."Daddy seeping, shhhhh! Daddy seeping!"

1:00 AM - Somehow, April manages to calm her down and she falls asleep again.

2:00 AM - Nora thrashes around in her sleep, rolling from side to side, finally settling on a position perpindicular to us in the bed, with her head on my chest and her feet on April's neck. Neither one of us can sleep with this arrangement for very long, so we carefully try to straighten her out. Despite our best efforts, she wakes up.

She's hungry. She wants a bananna. "manna? manna?! waters? milkie? MANNA!? MANNAAA!!!!"

April gets up to get her a bananna. Fortunately there are still some left in the kitchen. We learned early on to keep a strategic reserve for just such an occasion.

2:20 AM - She goes back to sleep.

3:00 AM - More thrashing. She has done a complete rotation, starting with her head near mine, then performing a 180-degree turn, finally settling back into her perpendicular position with her head near April's neck. After a couple of kicks to the head, I give up and roll out of bed.

"@#$(*&(*%$." I go into the living room and pull out the hide-a-bed, where I finally manage to get some sleep.

3:32 AM - I feel a rustling next to me. It's Sydney the cat. Fortunately, Sydney doesn't thrash around. She curls up in a ball next to my legs and we both go back to sleep.

7:30 AM - I am awakened by the sun streaming in through the living room windows. I look at the clock.

"@#(&$#$$!!"

Realizing I have overslept 1 1/2 hours, I scramble around getting ready for work. Despite all the noise, Nora does not budge. She doesn't wake up until after 8:00.

April and I are hoping that this phase will not last too much longer. What happens if we run out of banannas?

Time to go to bed.