Sleep and Potatoes

1. Sleep.

Jack's been falling asleep too late (preceded by an hour or so of singing) and waking up too early. The latter part usually involves him coming into our room -- 3:30 one time, 4:30 another, and then pretty much every 10-15 minutes from 5 to 6 a.m. It's been getting lighter earlier, maybe that's it. In any case, it's been rough on us -- and him.

Yesterday, after about 3 days of this, it probably came to a head while dining out. We needed to get out of the house, and met his cousins and family for wings at a place that had "kids eat for 99 cents night." Seemed like a good idea, aside from Jack getting progressively more restless and cranky as the meal wore on, and it ending with us hightailing it out of there with Jack wailing about his buttons (I still have NO IDEA what he meant), which lasted all the way home. Then came a relatively quick bath where he still dissolved into wails every once in a while, followed by getting ready for bed that included him actually walking into the wall at one point (that was nice), and finally, finally, sleep. For Jack, it ended up being nearly 11 hours, interrupted just once. For us, we probably got almost 8 hours! For all, it was bliss.

So yeah, sleep, very important for everyone.

2. Potatoes.

Jack enjoys his Mr. Potato Head toy, at times wanting it near him at night ("I want him to watch me brush my teeth") and when he's sleeping. Yesterday's mail brought a new toy from his grandparents, a Red Sox Mr. Potato Head -- he's a slightly smaller version, that can be dressed up in a little Sox jersey, helmet, face (blowing bubble gum!), and shoes.

Jack immediately started dressing up his little potato head. "He's getting ready to go to school," he explained. And again, as he put the little hat on him: "He's getting ready for school." And then he started taking all of his features off again, so he was just a little potato, and put him next to Mr. Potato Head. "He's not getting ready for school. He's going to stay home with his Daddy."