Star Student

This past week at school, Cadie was the "Star Student" for her class. When I picked them up earlier this week, she proudly showed me her certificate stating her "start status". Maddie looked up at me, tears in her eyes and sadness in her voice, and asked where her certificate was. I sighed, knowing this would be something we'd be facing quite frequently in the future. I explained to her that Cadie had won the award this month, but if she continued to be a good girl and a good student in class, she would be sure to win the award sometime in the future. After a couple more whines and a few tears, she accepted my explanation and moved on to wanting to know where her customary cup of root beer and chocolate chip cookie were.

Thank goodness for short attention spans!

Sleep, Interrupted

I always thought the age of three would be a safe bet for no longer being woken up in the middle of the night. That was something we dealt with when we had newborns, then when the girls were adjusting to their room and sleeping in big girl beds. Age three is supposed to be a safe distance from interrupted sleep, except for the occasional nightmare or thunderstorm. Apparently, Cadie didn't get the memo.

Because Jeff's been working out of town for the past six months, I'm on my own during the week. This means, nearly every night when Cadie wakes up two or three times, it's up to me to get her back to sleep. I don't know if I would be less annoyed by it if she was waking up because of a bad dream or because she was scared; probably so. Lately, though, she's been waking up for no apparent reason. When she calls for me, she isn't frightened, upset, in a panic. She's just sitting in her bed, sometimes needing me to retrieve her doll or Bebe. It usually doesn't take much to get her back to sleep, either, but I'm up enough times to feel the effects the next day. There's something so un-restful about sleep interrupted. If she weren't so darn cute...

Oh, please, let this be a short phase!

What Time Is It?

At this age, I never really know what is going to come out of the girls' mouths, let alone where they got the idea to say it. Lately, Cadie has been obsessed with knowing what time it is. Usually, I try to answer her, but after I've been asked every two minutes for an hour, I sometimes lose my patience. Who knows why she's constantly asking? Or if the answers of "5:45, half past three, or almost 9" really mean anything to her. I know she understands when my answer is "bedtime", though!

Dream a Little Dream

The girls have said things here and there in the past that have led me to believe that they might have had a nightmare. Things like, "That mean boy came in my room and tried to get me" or "There was a scary monster in there last night!" Dreaming is, yet again, another non-tangible that I've found it difficult to explain to the girls. I think, though, I've managed to provide them with at least some understanding. I hate the idea that they are already having bad dreams, but this morning I got confirmation that they are also having good ones. After Jeff had left to go to some appointments, Cadie came and crawled into bed with me, rolled over, and went back to sleep. When she once again woke up, she said to me very excitedly, "Mommy! Do you know what? I helped Marlin find Nemo and get him back to his daddy!" I asked her if she'd had a dream that she helped Nemo's daddy find him, and she smiled back with a "Yes!" Mind you, we haven't watched Finding Nemo in a couple of weeks, but I'm not surprised that my girls dream in Disney. She was so excited and so proud; and I was relieved that all of her dreams aren't the bad kind.