For the Love of All Things Holy, GO TO SLEEP!!!!!!

So Diesel & I had the audacity to go on a 3 day weekend to Vegas & leave Little Man with his grandparents. I am now sure that he is punishing us for this.

For the last week and a half, my formerly easy to put to bed son has refused to sleep. REFUSED. Bedtime rolls around. The first sign of trouble looming on the horizon is when we get the request for "one more Georgie?" Repeated several times until hysteria sets in. "No, we watched one Curious George, it is bedtime. Time to sleep. We're going to read books." 

So we sit in the glider, in dim light, and read a few books. We sing the bedtime lullaby & into bed Little Man goes. Every night the same thing happens.

"Mama. Wah-tuh?"
"Daddy put your water in your bed. Here is Baby & Cozy."
"Daddy KISS!"
"Ok. You stay in bed and Daddy will come give you a kiss."
Diesel enters, gives kiss, says "Good night Buddy, I love you." and leaves. I say "Good night, I love you more than anything" and leave.

Usually this marks the beginning of quiet Mommy & Daddy time while our darling boy slumbers...  NOW, it means in 5 or so minutes we'll hear little feet creeping through our bedroom. A tiny, grinning face then appears in the doorway.

"Ni hao Mama. I wake up."
"No, sir, you did not wake up. You haven't gone to bed."
So I scoop him up, put him back into bed. Say good night & leave.
As I'm leaving, I see his little legs swing out of bed and he runs for the door. I scoop him up and wordlessly put him in his bed. Before I can step away, his little legs swing out of bed again and he's off. Again, I scoop him up and wordlessly put him in bed and start to leave.

Repeat this 4 million times for the next hour, but add in a screaming & crying two year old and a mama who is trying to keep from losing her temper.  Eventually, I give up and say "ok. Mama will sit in the chair if you stay in bed." Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't.

LAST NIGHT, however, takes the cake! 7:30 bedtime. I read, we sing, I put him in bed. Diesel laid in bed with him while I go on a run. I came back 30 minutes later & Diesel was still in there. I foolishly think "maybe they both fell asleep." In about 5 minutes I know how wrong I am. Little Man starts calling for me. I come in, say good night and leave. Diesel leaves.... Little Man shows up in our room 2 minutes later.
"Ni hao! I wake up"
I put him in bed, and because by now it is way past his bedtime I sit in the glider. Little Man meanwhile flops around on his bed like a fish, jabbering away. I'm doing my best to say nothing. He lays down and gets quiet. I move to sitting on the floor so I can stretch after my run. I hear his breathing getting slower & steadier, so I inch my way out of the room. I make it to the bathroom that adjoins our two bedrooms and Little Man sits bolt upright. "MAMA! I get toys!" he says as he slides out of bed & opens his cupboard & pulls out his steering wheel.

Oh sweet Jesus, give me strength.

I put him in bed, with his steering wheel and leave. For the next few minutes I hear "OH NO! Battery dead! Ah Gon sho li" (this is my, likely incorrect, romanization of my son's Mandarin. It means "Grandpa can fix it"). Then he toddles into our room, climbs into our bed and says "Me sleep Mama, Dada bed?"

Normally, this is a no-no, but it is now 9pm, I'm tired and I NEED him to sleep. I say "fine, but you have to lay down and sleep." For the next 30 minutes Little Man crawls under the pillows, turns on the lights, moos like a cow, takes of his pajamas and occasionally lays still. Finally we give up. It is time for the big guns.

We put him in bed, leave & lock the door behind him. 10 minutes of crying & knocking on the door commence. After that, Diesel goes in, puts him in bed. I come in give him kisses, say good night, Diesel leaves. I stay for a few minutes. Little Man starts snoring... All is right with the world.

Until 2:30 am...