Sleeplessness

For some reason, at almost 2, Maggie is back to her old habit of sleeplessness. Aren't kids supposed to outgrow this phase? I thought it ended with solid foods. No? Well, my angel is up at about 3AM almost every morning, screaming to beat the band. She settles down or wears herself out again at about 5AM, sleeps until maybe 6AM, and that is it for the night. I am worn out. She is fine. Why is that?

At least with this round of sleepless nights, I have a theory on its causes. I am assuming it is related to her speech development. She is adding words and phrases so quickly now, it is amazing. She is also doing the "No _____" phrase a lot. "No Bed" "No Night-Night" "No tired" seem to be her favorites, the little scamp. Whenever she wakes up in the middle of the night, she always seems to have something to say. It isn't terribly useful, but it is something. "Magme (her name for herself) no sleep." "Magme up". "Magme want mama." "Magme wants Pooh." (Pooh is the first TV show on at 5:30. It is sad she knows that is on early, even sadder that I know it.) It just seems language is bursting out of her, like all her little synapses are firing and she can't settle them down.

The other difference I noticed in this sleepless phase: she is taking killer naps. During the other phases, it was no sleep, no naps. But now, she is napping like a champ. Luckily my 6 months of work to get the girls' naps coordinated is still paying off and she usually naps at the same time as La Nina. So, I can get a catnap in myself. And believe me, I do. For me, napping is a requirement when I am not sleeping at night. This is the part of motherhood at 40 that no one tells you about. I truly believe sleep deprivation hurts worse now than ever before.

I just have to marvel at how different my two kids are. La Nina would not miss an hour's sleep for anything. She tells me when she is tired and rarely baulks at naps. In fact, if I am running late for her nap, she will go lie down on her own. The Magster, on the other hand, fights every single moment of sleep. When she knows it is nap time, she goes running through the house, screaming "Noooo". Let's just hope this phase passes quickly. It has been going for almost a week now and I am worn out!