Exhausted, Again

The past month has been a painful one, as Russell's sleeping patterns have changed once again. In this latest cycle, he has been waking up between 3AM and 5AM, running into our bedroom and leaping onto our bed. Sometimes, he wakes up Punky in the process. Occasionally, he will not fall back asleep and that will require me to entertain him for several hours until daylight. Since he usually does not take naps at home, he is likely losing between one and two hours of sleep per day.

Lately at school, he has been irritable and not following directions from his teachers. I suspect that his lack of sleep has something to do with this bad behavior. Even Jenny's mother has noticed that Russell seems sluggish at times.

The impact of Russell's behavior has spilled over into my well-being. I am also losing around two hours of sleep per night. At work, I feel like a zombie unless I drink massive amounts of coffee. To make up for this, I can go to bed at 9 or 10PM along with the kids to catch up, but this means a dirty kitchen, unpaid bills and the kids' stuff scattered throughout the house. I can get away with this perhaps once or twice a week.

So if I appear to be posting to this blog sporatically, or if my commentary seems to be a bit off target, you'll know why.