What a Xmas Morning!

It's 2am in the morning on Xmas day.  You would think that Isabel is sleeping soundly dreaming about what Santa will bring her as Xmas gifts in the morning, but you would be wrong.  She is too young to still understand all that.  Instead, at 2am, she is crying on the top of her lungs from being overtired.  The screaming last for 5 minutes.  At 2:40am, I wake up to screaming again.  This time it's more like 20 min.  She was inconsolable for awhile.  I didn't realize but this is normal I guess for a child that has been overstimulated and so tired.

We went to a party at Jaime's parents' friend house Xmas Eve - a very nice party that had appetizers at 7pm and dinner at 10:30pm - a Spanish tradition I guess.  Quite a few bigger kids who happily entertained Isabel.  She was so excited and just played, played, and played.  We let her play thinking she is big enough now to stay up later.  Isabel didn't go to bed until 11:30pm in the car on the way home.  She seemed fine and went to sleep again soon after we got home.

It's now 3:17am.  She is asleep again thankfully but I can't sleep, worried that she may scream again and hoping at the same time that she won't and will rest well for the rest of the night. Agnes tells me her screaming is normal and she will be fine.  She is just over-tired, needs rest, but doesn't how to do it herself.  Agnes was holding her walking around in the room so she can be comforted to sleep again.

I guess it's lesson learned.
1.  When a baby is not yet 3 year old, they can't stay up way past their bed time (which is 9pm) without suffering a bit (screaming and being over-tired).  Few weeks ago, she was up until 10:30 but we put her to sleep at the friend's house we were at and she was fine that night.   11:30 was obviously too much.
2.  Don't let her watch TV when it's past her bedtime.  The kids and her were all watching Madagascar the movie.  I went to check on her at almost 11pm, she was looking at me cross-eyed a bit.  She was obviously way too tired.   A few months ago, she had this problem after she woke up from naps or sleep.  We took her to an eye doctor and she said it's probably normal since she is developing still.  After that I haven't noticed her  crossed-eyed much at all.  When I saw it tonight, it makes me worried.  Another reason to watch out when she stays up too late.
3. Don't let other people's opinion influence my instinct.  People told me it's fine to have her stay up late. Well, they are not up now at 3:25am worried about whether their child is resting well.  My instinct told me 11:30 was too late. I guess I feel guilty and probably should have tried to have her sleep earlier.   Every child is different.  Some has been trained to stay up late.  We can train Isabel but not do it this suddenly.  For the most part, I don't see any reason to train her to stay up late.  She can do that when she grows up.

I guess I feel bad overall.  It's hard to see our child suffer in the middle of the night.  I am sure she is fine now and I am probably being over-dramatic..  No crying since 3am.  I hope she is resting well now.  It's amazing how protective motherhood feels. I guess this is part of the roller-coaster ride of life.  Well, we will make sure Isabel gets plenty of rest and sleep as much as she wants so she can be all good to open her presents in the morning.

Now, hopefully, I can sleep soon too.

-Lei
It's 3:56am and she hasn't screamed again.  Time for mommy and daddy to go back to sleep