Sleep

He wakes up talking and moving. Within mere seconds of his eyes opening, he is out of bed and literally running through the house, on whatever mission has already filled his head. There isn't enough caffeine on the planet to aid me in keeping up with him. He moves constantly and I suspect his brain moves even faster. He typically falls asleep mid-sentence after fighting a needed nap. Bedtime is similar; however, if we need to keep him up late, he will reach the point of asking to go to bed. On that rare occasion, I can almost hear the Halleluiah choir singing in the heavens. It's glorious. Bedtime is oh so much smoother when he is ready to concede to needed rest.  

Unlike my son, from the fourth night after my parents brought me home from the hospital, I have made it clear sleep would be a priority in my life. Mom put me to bed at 6 pm and woke up at 8 am the following day, scared to death I had died in the night. As she peered into my crib, afraid of what she'd find, I was just starting to stretch. I've required a lot of sleep ever since. I had a middle school friend who hosted sleep-overs where the only goal was to stay up all night. I always found space in the guest room to sleep anyway, despite the consequences of being the first one to to so. I ultimately stopped attending her sleep-overs. I was the only one I knew in high school who still had to go to bed at 9 pm because by 10, no one wanted to be around me the following day. Not much as changed as I still have an initial feeling of anger when the alarm goes off in the morning. If I can wake before that horrendous noise, all the better. It is safe to say, I am not a morning person.

Greg gets up pretty easily no matter what time of day or night that happens to be for him. His sleep schedule would wear me out. I asked him today if he remembers ever being the kind of person who would hop out of bed ready to conquer the world. He can't remember ever hopping out of anything but suspects that has more to do with his aging memory and body though. His mother reports he wasn't difficult to wake until his teen years but doesn't recall him ever being overly energetic first thing in the morning either.

All four of our daughters are very much like their mother. They sleep hard and aren't very social in the morning.  We were a family who enjoyed peaceful and calm mornings until the arrival of this precious boy.

He's totally worth it.