Alex was up all night last night. He actually started in my bed because I had some friends over last night and it was easier to let him start there than have him come down stairs to keep looking for me. He was too heavy for me to move so I let him stay, figuring he might just sleep soundly since he loves my bed so much - wrong! He was up every 30-40 minutes and kept asking me to rub his back to help him fall back to sleep. Then at 4:30 this morning, our conversation went something like this,"Mom, what time is it?" I told him it was 4 in the morning, too early. "Is today Thursday?" I told him yes, still too early, go back to sleep." Am I buying lunch today?" Yes, but not for hours, lay back down. " Is it going to be sunny today?" I think so, but again, not for a while so lay down. "Where's Rocco?" Sleeping with Olivia I told him, don't bother them. "What time is it now?" Obviously time for me to slip him a sleeping pill - just kidding. So on top of a sleepless night, it looked as if he was going to have a bad listening day too. Anything I ask him not to do, he does, and his knee jerk response is always, "sorry" with an attitude, like I am putting him our by telling him to stop misbehaving.

I told him not to go get Rocco from Liv's room, he did. He is not supposed to pick him up and carry him, he did, all the way out of her room and down the stairs. He is not supposed to let him out without a leash on, and he did. The list goes on and on. It was so early I decided to take him with me for a ride and get some coffee again, give the girls a little more time to sleep, so we left. As soon as we got back, he was at it again with the dog, so I put him in his room and told him to stay there until I came to get him. I heard him say that he was leaving this house, that I am a mean mom, so I popped back in and told him not to even think of packing anything up, that he needed to leave his room the way it was. You know what he said? "It's my room mom, I can if I want to. You can't always tell me what to do." Oh yeah? Sometimes I want to laugh so hard because the way he says these things are so funny, and the fact that he is saying them is so funny, but I can't. So you know how people always say that kids with Down Syndrome are so sweet, such angels - clearly that is a fallacy. Don't get me wrong, Alex is a doll, sweet and caring, but just like any other child, he has an edge to him that most people are surprised to see. Just ask his bus driver, Dan, who laughs at him every day, and can't believe how in tune with the world he is. I am glad he is high functioning and is so aware of things, but it certainly comes at a price!