Liam has always been a crappy sleeper. He went through a period during his infancy where he took 3 30 minute naps a day and was up at least 3 times overnight. We sleep trained at 7 months. He didn't sleep through the night until well after he turned 4 years old (it was after Jamie arrived). We must adhere to a strict schedule with him. Nap time was always sacrosanct and if you missed the tiny little nap window you were screwed. Bedtime was also inviolate because going to bed late meant crappy (crappier?) sleep. Try to wear him out so he would sleep? Guaranteed up-6-times night. We went through a phase where Liam hit the floor at 5:30 am every single day. Being so incredibly strict about sleep bought us nights in which we were "only" up twice - with a 3 year old. He fights sleep tooth and nail and I can count on one hand the number of times that he has voluntarily said he's tired and wants to go to bed. We are only now capable of monkeying with his bedtime slightly.
Jamie is the antithesis of this - at least once he decided to give up the colic and we got his reflux under control. He reliably took 2 naps a day, both of them at least 90 minutes long. He goes to bed and sleeps all night - he has done so since he was 11 months old. He now takes one nap a day that is generally 90 to 120 minutes long.
What's more amazing to me is that from the time he's been able to walk, Jamie will run to the stairs if you say "Jamie, are you ready to go take your nap?" He runs towards sleep, not away.
So today I was blown away when I was upstairs grabbing something and Jamie followed me up the stairs, ran into his room, and pointed emphatically at his crib.
"Do you want to take a nap, Jamie?"
[vigorous head nod]
"I'm sorry honey, we have to leave in a few minutes to take your brother to school. You can take a nap as soon as we get home."
Then, we headed back downstairs. I had at least 20 minutes until I needed to leave to get Liam to school and Jamie ran around finding his shoes, his hat, Liam's backpack, Liam's shoes, and throwing them all at me in an effort to get us all to hurry up, dammit! Let's get brother to school so I can take a damn nap, Mom!
Not only does the kid want to sleep but at less than 2 years of age, he's got reason enough to figure out that if we have to take Liam to school before he can take a nap then let's get this wagon train moving and get out the door! Liam blew me away with his smarts (and still does), Jamie is actively scaring me with how much he understands.
I have said for years that I wanted my second child to be three things: a sleeper, an eater, and an easy teether. I got two - the sleeping and the eating. To quote Meatloaf, "Two out of three ain't bad."
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