No Thank You

Don't let this innocent look fool you. Ever since summer has officially started, Annie has decided to celebrate by refusing to sleep through the night. Every night, she wakes up, stands up and starts screaming. I have no idea what time this happens, because I steadfastly refuse to look at the clock before I stumble up the stairs. And no quick pat on the back will satisfy this friend. She points to the rocking chair. "Rock! Rock!" Which is a whole lot better than what she says some nights: "Downstairs!" she insists. If you don't comply, she lets loose with some bloodcurdling screams. One night I was so tired, I kept falling asleep with her on my shoulder, both of us threatening to tumble out of the chair. I don't think that's happened since those 4 a.m. nursing sessions when the girls were infants. Another night, I was so desperate to lay back down, I actually let her sleep in our bed. (No kids in our bed is the only thing we said we'd never do pre-kids that we've actually stuck to.)

Thank goodness it's summer, and I can afford to lose some sleep in the middle of the night. Still, it totally sucks, seeing as this was never a problem before. I ran into one of Annie's daycare teachers the other day and told her I was sending Annie back. It's like she has just now figured out that mommy exists 24 hours a day, and therefore she needs me 24 hours a day. I know it's just a phase, but I really hope it's a short one!

When she's not waking up in the middle of the night, Annie can be pretty awesome. Her vocabulary is growing by the day and she's starting to string together sentences. She recently started saying "no thank you". Annie, would you like some milk? "No tan too." Annie, it's nap time. "No tan too."

One of her favorite foods right now is hummus. She calls it "sup" because she's trying to say "dip". Although half the time, she uses her fingers more than the crackers I provide! 

In fact, we're reaching that frustrating stage where Annie is trying to communicate far more than we can actually understand. She knows what she wants, she tells us emphatically, and we just don't get it. Sorry, kid. Keep trying to make us understand. We'll end up on the same page one of these days!