When was the last time?

I can not remember the last time I was so excited that I couldn't sleep. Today C was literally counting hours and minutes until his birthday. He knows that he was born at 3:52 AM and was eagerly anticipating the moment of his birth. By dinner he was barely able to contain himself. The energy was literally oozing out of him.

We have bouncy balls that the boys use as chairs for home school (I read that boys need to move, and the moving chairs help them focus their energy). Tonight, on his bouncy chair, he was in complete motion. Bouncing up and down singing, "Tomorrow is my birthday, tomorrow is my birthday, tomorrow is my birthday...."

When I tucked the boys in I made the mistake of telling C that it would feel like his birthday is coming faster if he falls asleep quickly. Unfortunately this resulted in tremendous pressure to fall asleep, which of course never works. The more he told himself he wanted to sleep the worse things became. By 10:30 he was so frustrated, and anxious about falling asleep that his heart was racing. He had been in and out of bed every 10 minutes for two hours. C insisted, "I don't want to be tired on my birthday." But nothing was working for him, even his feet and legs had apparently mutinied, "Every time I fall asleep, my feet and legs hurt or tingle." We tried everything from stretching, to counting sleep, to mentally rehearsing his tae kwon do moves. I even tried some mental manipulation; me telling him to try not to fall asleep. Finally Johan decided to go lay with him. Minutes later C is out of bed and Johan is sound asleep with C's pillow and blankets.

So I asked him to come sit next to me. His body relented sometime while I was typing this post. At last my very nearly nine year old baby is sleeping next to me on the sofa. Goodnight birthday boy. We love you.