We are still unfamiliar with this idea that I child will, when tired, actually sleep. We went through several years of the opposite, in which Anna, when overtired, would sleep badly, and only get more overtired. As a result, we almost never deviated from her sleep schedule; the punishment was too swift and too severe. Staying up an hour late to go out to dinner or have friends over, or even missing a nap would result in days and nights of crankiness and night waking. Anna has never seen fireworks; we just can’t bear to keep her up that late. That’s why this blog is called “We’re So Tired”; we had three years of not knowing when we would next have a full night’s sleep.

Tara, on the other had, had herself a fussy day on Monday, only getting only 14 hours of sleep rather than her normal 15 1/2. The result? She slept nearly 11 hours straight on Monday night, and continued to get extra sleep on Tuesday. In other news, she eats when she’s hungry.

Anna has actually become a better sleeper over the last six months, but we’re still gunshy on letting her stay up late. We have some travel coming up, and if she does well on the trip, I’ll feel a little more like we’re out of the woods with her. I really would like to take Anna to see ballgames, fireworks, and all the other things other kids get to do. Maybe someday.