Sleep Alert....

Chris was out of town for two of the last three weeks and Ella is getting 4 teeth. Those things combined have caused some never before seen insanity in our house. For 4 nights in a row Ella refused to lay down in her bed and only screamed hysterically until we came in and held her (and even then continued to cry sometimes). The only way to get her to sleep was to let her fall asleep on us and then sneak her into bed which took hours some nights. She napped once during that time and went to bed close to 11pm for 3 nights which means she was sleep deprived and not so nice to deal with. She was back to her normal self after a weekend away and went down just fine last night and this afternoon. Then, I met a friend for coffee tonight and Chris tried to put her to bed and it took an hour and a half. I still have high hopes that that was a fluke and she's back on the going-to-sleep-like-a-sane-child-bandwagon. I hate to even speak of these things but I want to have it in writing so when I'm freaking out if this happens with another child in the future I can look back at this blog and remember that 1)It was wretched and 2)It did end.
I came to a conclusion today when a friend and fellow-toddler mom texted me to ask "Why isn't it bed time yet and why don't I have a full time maid?" (I ask myself those questions relatively often). Basically, toddlerhood is kicking my butt. I LOVED the baby stage but watching my previously angelic-seeming child chase a kid today while holding him by the neck of his shirt in order to snatch his toy away is really no fun. She really is a good girl most of the time but I'm scared of what I'll be apologizing to other parents for in the future as the terrible two's set in. It just comes down my perceived loss of control over her behavior...having control at all is a misconception anyway so it's just a matter of getting on the same page as God about this and realizing Ella is His and He is in control and has been all along. Ok, I promise the next post will be on a lighter note.