To sleep, perchance to dream...

Few parents of young kids are likely to disagree with the following statement: It's all about the sleep. As much as the other elements of early parenthood can "bust your hustle" -- the dirty nappies (translation: diapers), the spit up, the food throwing, the arm-flailing tantrums -- nothing quite compares with sleep deprivation in its ability to mess with your quality of life.  I am really aware of this at this moment: a Sunday afternoon, Karen & I sitting in our office/bedroom reading, both children napping peacefully, and all 4 of us having both slept a full night, through to 7am this morning. Ah, the sleep groove. When a family manages to find its sleep groove, the haze momentarily lifts, the white noise in the background dims, the Hubble telescope of life gets a few adjustments and we can see again.

We have not had many Sunday afternoons like this -- or any moments at all -- in quite a while. Partially because of the upheaval with the move and all the associated change of routine. But partially because we have struggled to our sleep groove, really since Parker was born. I hate to blame anything on the affable little guy... but I do blame him for this: Parker seems to need about as much sleep as Margaret Thatcher (who, it is said, was good to go on 4 hours a night) and for much of his life has been difficult to get to fall asleep and equally difficult to prevent from waking up early. And as someone who works stockbroker's hours, I don't use the word "early" lightly; I am talking about a waking time starting with a "5" or, during one unfortunate period in the summer that happened to coincide with my birthday week, a "4". He is also a very light sleeper, such that if someone on the third floor of the house across the street flushes their toilet at the wrong moment, he's up, wide awake and poised for action. 

Sadie has been a better sleeper for a while now, thank heavens, for a year now going down easily at 7:30pm and sleeping solidly to 7:30 the next morning (only occasionally interrupted when she can't find her bunny and starts hollering). However unlike Parker, she turns into a monstrous character if denied her 14 hours of Zs per day. 

The result is a logistical dilemma. Our original plan to have the two share a room in London failed disastrously on Day 1 following our move here, with Parker waking Sadie up two hours before she was ready to do so, and naps during the day constantly disrupted, tempers flaring throughout. We quickly realized that would not work, so we moved Sadie out of that room to various temporary accomodations, first in a pack n play in the living room, and then into a Phil & Ted's tent in our bedroom (pushing us into the office/guest bedroom).  As spacious as this appartment is, there is no obvious place to put poor Sadie on a permanent basis. She has not complained much about her frequent moves, but any time we mention anything about "your room" to her, she responds with a request for clarification ("you mean my room that is Parker's room? or my room that is in the living room?"). Poor little nomad.

So this is all to say that we are excited about any intimation that we have found our sleep groove. Having recovered from the shots/bug that send us back to the A&E earlier this week, Parker has recovered his appetite, dropped his morning nap and seems to have figured out how to fall asleep more easily as well as sleep a bit later. Perhaps it is not be so unrealistic to get them back in the same room before long. Of course, we know by now that life is constantly in flux, so perhaps it's better not to count our chickens before they start sleeping poorly again.

Otherwise... both Karen & I are feeling a bit better, thanks largely to this unexpected sleep windfall and the healthier state of the kids. And we have had a fun weekend, with some sunny weather (but cold!) and some interesting excursions around town. Events of days past include Sadie's first ballet class; a visit to the Camden Market which is quite a lively place and within walking distance of our house; and a walk up to Hampstead Heath and its magnificent playground in the clear chilly air this morning.