Our early riser

For the last couple of weeks, Carsten has been getting up in the morning anywhere between 5:45 and 6:15am... a.k.a the butt-ass-crack-of-dawn. Before this shift in schedule, he usually woke up around 7:30, which was perfect... to bed at 8:30 and up at 7:30. We had it made. Now, he is ready for bed at 7:30, which means we are rushed trough our nightly routine... dinner, bath, bottle, & bed. I've tried putting him to bed later in hopes that he will sleep later, but as every experienced mom knows, this doesn't work with children. They get up at the same time and are crankier because of the loss of sleep.

Danyel and I do not do early mornings. If we have to get up any earlier than 7am, we are ruined for the day. The other day, Danyel attended a regional meeting for work. Another broker told him that he looked tired. He had black circles under his eyes. We have had to resort to going to bed at 9pm in order to be half alive when the chatter box goes off in the early morn.

We have been taking turns getting up with Carsten. This morning was my turn. Carsten didn't give me a break... he woke up at 5:45. It was still dark when I got up. Getting up at this time of morning with a toddler who is on fire and full of all this pent up energy from being still and asleep for 11 hours straight is enough to send me over the edge. As I was trying to wake up slowly and peacefully, Carsten was frantically chasing Kiki all over the house in hopes of catching him... or torturing him... one of the two. Kiki was crying out for his life and Carsten was laughing hysterically. This went on for 20 minutes. I don't know who was in more turmoil, me or Kiki. I know, I know, we shouldn't complain... many parents would kill for a baby that sleeps 11 hours straight. But, Carsten has spoiled us by having such a great sleeping schedule for a long time now. Hopefully, this shift is temporary. Or else, we are screwed. Very screwed.