The early bird...

doesn't catch the worm. He evokes a tired, crazy mommy.

Do any of you remember this post from when Toby was a toddler (it's basically me celebrating him finally sleeping past 5:30 am)? Well, guess what...he's at it again. And when I say "again" I mean waking up at the crack of dawn has been going on for months now. At first it was only 1 or 2 days a week he would come running into our bedroom and yell "Is it time to get up?!" Now it's becoming 4-5 days a week. And mom's patience is pretty much gone. Wait, that's a lie - it was gone a long time ago.

This boy never ceases to amaze me with how well defies all parenting books and well-intentioned advice. I have tried the following to get him to sleep till 7:00 (his normal wake-up time): darkened his room, put him to bed later, put him to bed earlier, added more blankets on his bed, put his favorite toys next to his bed, took away his afternoon nap, laying next to his bed, letting him cry in his bed until 7:00. The latest tactic actually worked for a while: I put a digital clock in his room and did a "Rewards Chart." Every day he woke up at 7:00 he would get a star on his chart and after 5 days he got to pick out a NERF football. For almost two weeks he was sleeping till 7:30 and sometimes 8:00! Just when I was about to do my victory dance, he regressed back to 6:00. I started the "Rewards Chart" again but it lost its luster. He doesn't care about the stars or the rewards for sleeping well. Then I started taking away toys. I thought for sure this would work since yesterday he asked for his Transformer toy back about 918 times. Nope. This morning he came running in my room just after 6. If he wasn't having a ridiculous amount of melt-downs and constantly complaining about how tired he was, I would just accept this as his normal wake-up time. But since I saw a much happier Toby for two weeks when he was waking up later, I know he needs that extra hour or two (and so do I!). And as I type this, he is in the time-out corner screaming because he could not decide what he wanted for lunch. He keeps yelling "I want mac n' cheese! No, I want spaghetti! No! I don't want that! I'm so tired!" To which I impatiently respond "If you would just SLEEP, you wouldn't be so tired!"

Well, I've got one last trick up my sleeve. I found this night light online called "The Good Nite Lite." Basically it's a glowing moon at night and then it turns into a sun in the morning (there is a timer on it to control when the sun appears) so he will know when to get out of bed. The draw back? It's way overpriced - $35! But the desperate mom has emerged and I'm willing to do or pay anything if it means more sleep for Toby (and me!). But...before I click that "Submit Order" button, I would like to ask if you have any other ideas that have worked for your kiddos? I just want to make sure I have exhausted all options before I buy this thing.

Thanks for reading my little rant. It always feels good to unleash some of my frustration into cyber-world (and I'm sure someday my blog will be good entertainment when Toby is a teenager and sleeping till noon). :)

Temple Day

I just wanted to give a little run down on our family day at the Salt Lake Temple for Mikel. It was a beautiful day, just like I imagined. Tears were shed but what surprised me the most was the overwhelming feeling of joy. It was like Mikel was saying, "Don't cry, this is a happy day for me!" And it was. Each one of us came out of the temple smiling followed by a laughter-filled lunch at Olive Garden. It was the first family get-together where I wasn't pained by Mikel's absence. I simply felt even more excited and grateful to know that someday I will see her again and that she is all the more prepared for that day. :)

(Sorry I don't have a picture. My mom took one of us standing outside the temple but I guess I need to give her another tutorial on how to electronically mail pictures) ;)