All-nighter

Most families get to proudly report when their child sleeps through the night. Hyrum has always given us some excellent sleep, with only the occasional problem night. Tonight is one of those.

I'm sitting in a laundry room in my brother's apartment complex where I've set up Hy's bed for the night. He had fallen asleep just fine earlier, but when we moved him into the room where we are sleeping, I knocked over the blender. The clatter woke him and he cried something terrible. My heart just ached and moaned for him.

Finally I could take it no longer, so I packed him up and took him for a long drive. It used to be the only way my parents could get me to sleep. An hour and a half later, he was happily if lightly asleep. He woke up a little when we got home, but showed every sign of going to sleep.

No suck luck. So here we are in a laundry room together hoping he and the rest of the family will sleep while I duck for cover behind a washing machine. With Hy and Joy sick, Steve up until 4 and 5 in the morning for his job while trying to finish papers and prepare for classes, I'd really rather everyone get some sleep tonight.

The fun part of the whole adventure was learning that Hyrum talks in his light sleep. With his eyes shut quite thoroughly, he called out "Gill" (?), "Mom," "Dada," and at least half his words: "coke" meaning crayon, "docke" meaning milk, and when he got to "emma" for M&M, he woke up enough to ask for one. I gave him one, which he handed back a moment later. Then he handed back the one I gave him at the start of the trip. Anytime he woke up because of the street lamps, he asked for Mom. I'd tell him Mom was sleeping, and he was okay with that.

Any suggestions for how to get everyone in a small room to sleep at the same time??