Who Needs Sleep?

Who Needs Sleep?
Well you're never gonna get it.
Who Needs Sleep?
Tell me what that's for.
Who Needs Sleep?
Be Happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
Since the Second World War.

I keep singing this song by one of my all time favorite bands (The Barenaked Ladies). It's been a rough few weeks at my house. You would think with Brooklyn being off track we would have had plenty of time to sleep around here. Not so. One big change started at the beginning of the year. My once amazing Eliza who used to love to sleep (in fact she would beg to go to sleep) now hates to sleep! It may have been (ok, I'm positive it was) the fact that she lost her binkie forever. I let her keep it way too long because it was a crutch for me. She was a wonderful sleeper and looked forward to sleep time to be allowed time with her binkie. Now that I've seen how she is without it, I know why I kept it for so long. :)
She also decided she no longer needs a nap. I would think that would equal to one tired little girl who would crash at night time. However, the opposite is true. She is so beyond tired by night time that she throws the most royal fit I have ever witnessed! A sticker chart helps reward her for going to bed well at night most of the time but there are nights where she just doesn't care about anything except not going to sleep.
After all the exhausting efforts to get her to sleep and she finally crashes for the night, I dream of a restful night. Not so. Eliza has been waking up around 3 or 4 am every night (either because she is "scared" or she has to go to the bathroom) and then the fight begins again. Screaming and crying (from both the child and the parent) and finally she will fall asleep again.
Then she is awake and ready to go by 7:30 am at the latest. We are all so beyond tired. We keep thinking she just needs time to adjust. It's taking too long though. I'm a girl who loves her sleep. I need more sleep than my husband. I'm talking 8 hours, but can survive on 7 hours. I need it or you just don't want to be around me. ;). Fortunately, I have a husband who helps me at night and is often the one trying to calm her down in the wee hours of the morning. I have a problem that if I get up for too long then my body thinks it's time to wake up and my brain starts a thinking. Then falling back asleep takes a hour or so. Maybe Eliza is like me, but what is causing her to wake up in the middle of the night? I feel like I have a newborn baby. I'm exhausted! Yes, I could go to bed a little earlier, but it's hard to sacrifice my "my time" as well. I know, priorities, right?
Brooklyn has also started waking in the night. If we aren't all at home when she goes to sleep (which is quite often in this house), she is mad that she has to sleep before the missing person is home. She then wakes up at whatever time (usually 2 am) and cries out because she didn't get to hug that person before she fell asleep. Even if that person gives her a hug and kiss before they leave. It's so strange how it wakes her up.
So in answer to Who needs sleep? I do! I do! I do! Please!