No sleep

One of the worst things is lack of sleep, and at 10 years old Alex still doesn't sleep through the night. We had a big cousin's sleepover last night, they all went to bed late and Alex was up twice during the night, then at 4 a.m. he came into my bed. It would be ok if he went right to sleep, but he asks me to rub his back until he falls back to sleep. So, I start out saying no, then after minutes of whining, and my desperation to get some rest, I give in and rub his back until I can't feel my arm anymore. Of course, the minute I stop he bolts up and tells me he's not asleep yet and the cycle starts again.

Needless to say, he never really falls back to sleep and at 5:45 decides to go check on everybody else. I am able to stall him for a bit, but poor Meghan starts coughing non-stop and the rest of the gang wakes up anyway. And at 6:30 (after getting to bed at 1, and waking up at 4) I am serving breakfast and the coffee is not brewing nearly fast enough.

Alex's nights usually start with him waking up a few times between 11 and 2, then somewhere after 2 he makes his way into my room and insists on getting in to my bed. I am not an idiot, and know I should be firm and walk him back to his own room and do this continually until he gets the point, but after 10 years of not sleeping well along with stressful days, I wimp out. At some point I will be strong, just not this weekend.

We have done sleep studies, there is nothing medically wrong to cause these night time wakings. When he was an infant and until he was about 4, he had severe reflux which would cause him to wake frequently, but other than that, we just add it to the list of mysteries. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep on his part only adds to his tendency to act out, he has got to be exhausted too. Dr.'s have told us to put him on sleeping pills, but seriously, how much medication can one child take? I am such a freak about chemicals that I don't even like giving Motrin half the time! We have a full day planned, hopefully there will be Dunkin Donuts drive thrus along the way....

I was going through some old pictures on Kodak Gallery, need to order some for a school project, and came across Alex's First Communion photos. He had a practice day with the rest of the kids and their parents the week before the actual Communion, and he did really well. There was a number of activities and stations for the kids to go through, and then we came to the actual practice - you know, walking down the aisle, taking the fake host and putting it in your mouth, then taking a sip of wine.

Well, it is dead silent, all the parents in the pews watching while the kids parade up. Alex is last in line, waiting patiently. He takes the host, takes it in his mouth, then takes the wine, the wine that you are supposed to SIP, and proceeds to chug it like he's at a keg party, not church. He ends up finishing the wine, yes all of it, then wipes his mouth on his sleeve and lets out a loud, "aahhh." I hear some of the parents laughing, I was not one of them, although looking back I do think it's pretty funny, and the woman running the practice who had handed him the cup said, "Well, good thing he was last!"

Embarrassing moment #3 million - I told you there usually isn't a dull moment!

Feeling a little anxious today - I can sense some upcoming medical procedures with Alex. I have noticed him coughing and choking at meals lately, and in his words "throwing up on my tongue" which typically means his reflux is flaring up again. This means going to the hospital to put him under for the procedure to ensure that it is his reflux, then they can start the course of medication which will probably last about 3 months. Just what he needs, more meds on a daily basis!

My other concern is his eyes. He has had 9 eye surgeries so far, I think I mentioned that, and I have noticed he is having trouble seeing again, plus he has told me he sees "the black thing" floating in his eye which they said should have gone away by now. I HATE eye surgeries - too many risks involved and such a long recovery period. After all his procedures I am not even sure how much is left to do to his eyes, let's hope I am just thinking the worst.

Do you remember when you were little and your parents would tell you they would take away the pain or the illness and absorb it themselves, just so you wouldn't have to bear any type of hurt or discomfort? Now I know exactly what they meant...

My sister just reminded me of a really cute thing Alex did to her when we were on vacation this summer - he had been goofing around with her, rough-housing a bit and walked up to her and totally out of the blue held out his hands and said,"Auntie, can I have this dance?" It was so cute and unexpected! They danced for a couple of minutes and after she hugged him and thanked him for the dance he told her she needed dance lessons,that she wasn't that good, and that he would give her one the next day! These are the moments that keep me going....

Today was Alex's first day of school! And for a child who doesn't roll so well with change, we had a lot to deal with this morning. A new van driver, a different van with no cd player so he can listen to his favorite music on the way to school (Hannah Montanna, Camp Rock, Bon Jovi, etc) and a last minute phone call to let us know he will be in a new classroom with a new teacher. So, there were a lot of tears, telling me he was soooo nervous, please go on the van with me mommy, please come to school with me, what if my new teacher is strict, on and on. After about a half hour I was able to convince him to get on the van and then slowly pry his arms off me to leave for school. Then I went inside and cried. It was tough for both of us. But it turns out he had a great day and I took him to Blockbuster to reward him with a movie rental!

I just sat down to play "Ants in the Pants" with Alex, and he looked across the table at me and said, " Hey mom, it's on, you're going down puppy face, we'll see who wins this game." Are you kidding me? Where does he get this stuff from? I haven't laughed that hard in a while.....

I was thinking when I got up this morning that since today is the 2nd day of school for the girls and Alex doesn't start until tomorrow today might be quiet and uneventful with Alex. NOPE! Bella had a mini meltdown and didn't make it to the bus in time so I told her I would drive her, we had plenty of time. Next thing I know I can't find Alex anywhere, there isn't even any noise coming from another room. As I am calling for him, explaining we need to leave to take Bella to school I hear him asking for help - actually it was "Mom, help, get me out of here!" He had squeezed himself into one of the pantry closets and broke the door off the slider so he was stuck in the small spot on the floor under the shelves, unable to open the door. He was hiding so he didn't have to go with me to drop Bella off.

When I got him out, he decided he would go with us (like he ever had a choice) but he needed to "get something" first. Ten minutes later he has his school backpack stuffed with who knows what, dressed in shorts, t-shirt, hat, binoculars, boots, walkie-talkie, the works. He said he decided he isn't going to his school Gengras anymore, he wants to go back to Latimer Lane school with his sisters. And just in case they didn't have a teacher ready for him today, he was dressed to work "security" for them, guarding the school outside so no person or wild animal would bother the kids while they were at school. Thus the binoculars - he is able to spot danger from a mile away apparently - and the walkie talkie so he can call them and tell them what is going on as he patrols.

Needless to say, poor Bella was a little late to school, and it took some bribing to get him to leave school grounds with me.