Go. To. Sleep. NOW!

Okay, so maybe you've seen that catchy little book written for parents with young children entitled Go the F**k to Sleep?  If you don't mind a little profanity, it's actually quite funny.  Most importantly: it's true.  I remember watching television shows or listening to stories where the child or children would yell from their rooms or leave their beds one hundred million times - citing different reasons every time.  In fact, I even remember doing this as a child.  I would claim I "couldn't sleep" only to promptly pass out on the couch moments later.  It was cute when I did it, right?

Well, it would appear that Gavin has a new game.  A game I fondly refer to as, "Let's See How Many Times I Can Make Mom or Dad Come into My Room for Bogus Reasons Before I Actually Fall Asleep."  Each game is lasting roughly 1.5 hours at this point.

Ever since Gavin was born, he has been a terrible sleeper.  Terrible.  We thought it was great when he slept for 6 hours in a row at 6 weeks,  it was even better when he slept for 8 hours in a row at 8 weeks, and then it quickly went downhill.  If he wasn't sick or hungry, he was recovering from surgery, having nightmares, or having breathing issues.  I swear, the kid didn't sleep through the night until he was 3.  Not even a year ago, we took him to a sleep study so we could figure out why he woke up so much during the night.  After his last surgery - at close to 2 years old - he was waking up more in the middle of the night than he did as a newborn.  Easily ten times a night.

If he wasn't waking up and screaming, he was crawling into my bed.  Feet in my face, knees in my ribs, elbows in my back every single night.  One minute he's fast asleep, and the next he's upside down, limbs flailing everywhere, pushing the covers to the end of the bed.  It's not pretty.

Well, in the last few months, he's finally started sleeping in his own bed ALL night (unless there's a thunderstorm or a loud train), and it's been amazing . . . once he actually gets to sleep.  THAT is a whole different issue.

Last night, he yelled and screamed from his room for a good hour and a half.  Knowing that he had to get up early, I had him in bed by 7:45 p.m. 

At 7:50 p.m., he was crying because he wanted me to shut the door a little less than I did.  At 7:55 p.m., he was still crying about the door. 

At 8:00 p.m., we finally shut the door and told him to deal with it. 

At 8:10 p.m., he was still crying and yelling for someone to come to his room.  I told him I would start throwing toys away if he didn't stop crying about the door. 

At 8:15 p.m., he realized he needed some water. 

At 8:25 p.m., he needed to go to the bathroom. 

At 8:40 p.m., his legs hurt and he needed the heating pad. 

At 9:00 p.m., he had squirmed around in his bed so much that he couldn't make heads or tails of the blankets and needed them to be straightened out. 

At 9:10 p.m., he was traumatized because he spilled a little bit of his water on his bed (I'm talking maybe five drops).

I think that was the last we heard from him.

And it's like this every night.  Even if he doesn't yell for someone to come to his room ("Mom? Mommy? MOMMY?"  What?  "I need to go potty."  Just go!!), he's up to no good.  I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've caught him playing with his toys, singing songs, or jumping on his bed. 

And, he's such a grump in the morning.  Such a grump.  He cries withing 2 minutes of opening his eyes - about anything and everything.  "I don't want a bagel; I want toast.  I don't want to wear that.  I want to stir my hot cocoa.  I don't want the Spongebob cup." 

So, apparently, we have to start getting him ready for bed about 1.5 hours before we actually want him to go to sleep because it clearly takes him that long to settle down (and I want to go to bed!).  Or, perhaps, I will bring him his water, his heating pad, fluff his pillow, straighten his blankets, and anything else I can think of right when he gets to bed so he doesn't have so many excuses.