Troubled sleep…week two!

I dunno what sort of developmental phase she’s going through right now, but we just finished our second week of major sleep issues with Greta. Lately, it doesn’t matter what time she naps (early, late afternoon, no nap, we’ve tried them all), when the time comes to go to sleep, she WILL NOT SLEEP.

And I ain’t talking delicate, little, “Let me just lay here for a while Daddy, I’ll fall asleep eventually.” I’m talking, screaming, shreiking bloody-murder, Gandalf-esque “You shall not pass!” refusals to even try to sleep. It’s insane. And, as you can imagine, it has done wonders for the sleep patterns of the other two people who live in this house.

It got so bad tonight that my wife actually threatened to leave if it didn’t stop. No word on where she would go (for the record, she is not a great planner on little or no sleep) but she did promise to leave a note when and if she does leave us. And, if you think I’m kidding, you obviously haven’t dealt with a surly, sleep-deprived two-year-old…or her surly, sleep-deprived mother. Yikes…

Short of spiking her last sippy cup of the night with Jim Beam, anyone have any ideas to help out? I was kidding about the Jim Beam (we’re more of a tequila household these days), but, we will seriously try anything at this point…so, please, comment away!

“Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue”

Yes, I am actually taking the time to review a Disney DVD sequel…and you wanna know why? Because this is the first shitty Disney sequel we’ve seen that is actually, you know, not shitty. Seriously, the “Toy Story” movies aside, most of them are downright unwatchable — yeah, I’m talking to you “Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch”! — so, we picked up “Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue” at the library with much hesitation. In fact, if I had been able to pry the DVD from Greta’s sweaty little hands when we left, I might have just ditched it outright. But, wow, am I glad she held on tightly, because this movie kinda rocked.

Beautiful animation (Mrs. Stay-at-home-Yeti wanted to live in that gorgeous little fairy house!), stellar voice work (Michael Sheen? Kristen Chenoweth? Lucy Lui? Who knew?!) and a very sweet little story that made me tear up all four times that we watched it in three days. Yep, it’s that good!

Surprisingly, the extras on this one are pretty first-rate too, especially the deleted scenes. I don’t wanna give anything away by telling you what my favorite was, but, make sure and watch the scene with the Dad as a young boy…totally magical! Really, it is terribly sweet and gives the story whole other layers of meaning…

Also, in watching the extras realized I know the director, Bradley Raymond. Small world, huh? Great job, Brad! Greta and I loved your movie, even it did make me cry like a little girl…