Sleepless in Holland

It's one o'clock in the morning and I'm blogging. The party never stops around here.

Christian has become a night owl in the worst way. I used to listen to tales from other parents of special needs children. These tales told of sleepless nights and children that wouldn't go to sleep.

I knew nothing of the sort! Christian was always a good sleeper...a great sleeper. He would go to bed when we did. And if he did wake in the night he would lay quietly in his bed staring at his twinkle lights until he drifted off to sleep again. Not a peep out of him.

Then he woke up. No, I don't mean woke up as in woke in the morning. I mean for the past few weeks the haze over Christian's eyes has lifted and he's woken up. We've seen better weight baring in his upper body, his head control is better than it's ever been. In fact, he's even lifted it straight up past his comfortable 45 degrees. There is less seizure activity, more responsiveness, just such great things lately that make me so proud and excited and reassured that we made the right choices for Christian.

But there are trade offs. Like now that he's more "awake" he's decided he's got an opinion. He does not want to be put down in the evenings. In fact, he will cry and carry on until he's held. As soon as he's put down again he will cry. Sometimes immediately. For the most part of any given day he wants to be held and/or played with. He no longer lays around content with staring off into La La Land. He now needs to be entertained and stimulated more frequently or he lets us know he's bored.

Speaking of being more awake, this holds true for night hours, as well. Now his sleep schedule is all over the place. Actually, I should say he doesn't sleep nearly as much as he used to during the day. Mostly, because he's hardly on any medication anymore. And during the night he's made himself a little schedule. He goes to bed around 8 o'clock and then wakes up at about midnight. He then stays up for about an hour or two and will not be content unless he's held. He whines and cries until I get him. And after a few nights of proving to be his new routine, we ended up on the couch under a blanket crashed out until the wee hours of the morning.

So I've given in. Fine. We're not going to bed until 2 AM. That's just how it's going to be. It's a fair trade off for a little boy who's trying to wake up, I think.

We're up late, the both of us. I'm sitting here typing away with a crooked back and a giant two year old on my lap. Can't put him down, he wouldn't have any of that.

And now I'm part of the Sleepless in Holland Club. I've arrived.