Season Cycle or Conspiracy?

The past two weeks have been a struggle to get Nigel (the 19 mo) to sleep and stay asleep. Let's start the analysis in the morning...Nigel gets up around 5:30-6am, takes a nap around 12:30-1pm, sleeps for around 90 minutes, then comes nighttime. We've learned that it is useless trying to get him to go down less than 5 hours after he wakes up. So around 7-7:30pm, the wife takes him for a nightcap nip. About 20-30 minutes later she calls for me because Nigel is playing and chatting. I then wrestle with him for 30 minutes or more. He's getting to sleep between 8:30-9pm, every-other night he'll wake up once or twice, and then awake and ready for the world at 5:30am.

***slight venting aside***
This pattern of her nursing then passing along to me formed a few weeks ago. She is now convinced that I do something magical to get him to go to sleep. I assert that I do nothing more than kill time till he gives up. I guess this is the evil underside of the old days where nursing would be the only thing to knock him out. Now I'm being regarded as the only thing that will knock him out.

I don't think I'd be sour about this if she would just admit that I should have the duty of putting Nigel down. However, she insists that I'm still responsible for putting down Calvin (the 4 yo)...she just occasionally needs my help with Nigel..."occasionally" apparently meaning nearly every single night for almost a month. *sigh*
***Guzzled some Mtn Dew and moving on***

To top that off, Calvin has been waking up nearly every night for the past week or two. Sometimes he just needs a little help getting back to sleep, but more than half of the time he never seems to fall back asleep until several hours later. He'll lie there in bed with you nice and quiet, but doesn't pass out. We think he might be asleep and start to come out of his bed, only to hear, "Mommy/Daddy, where are you going?"

Part of me wants to believe that it is the long days of summer messing with their body clocks. Nigel doesn't seem to be teething and isn't as twitchy as he has been when going through growth spurts. No matter if we wear the kids out during the day, have a relaxing evening to soothe them into slumberland, or whatever; they are both going through a sleep funk that is making My Beloved and I quite edgy.

Additional thoughts? Other than slipping them a mickey? ;)

URGENT WARNING TO WOMEN!!!

I saw this while doing ham/spam and felt a need to inform all the women (especially the single women on my flist):

BEWARE!!!
I don't how many of you shop at Sam's Club or Costco, but this may be useful to know. I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. This happened to me and it could happen to you!!

Here's how the scam works:
Two seriously good-looking 23-year-old well-built guys come over to your car as you are packing your shopping in the trunk. They both are shirtless and start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their highly-defined chest muscles and rock-hard abs exposed. It's impossible not to look. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say 'No' and instead ask you for a ride to another Sam's Club or Costco. You agree and they get in the back seat.

On the way, they start talking dirty about what they want to do to you. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and begins kissing your neck and begs you to pull over so he can make love to you!! While this is going on the other guy steals your purse!!

I had my purse stolen last Tuesday, Wednesday, twice on Thursday, again on Saturday, and also yesterday and most likely tomorrow.

I'm running out of purses....do you have any old purses I can have?

Official Documentation That It is Summer

Utility bill arrived today. It's $100 more than it was last month. *sigh*

I can't help if my summer bills would be better if I put in new insulation and had the A/C venting reconfigured (all the pressure goes to the vents on the bedroom end of the house while you have to put your hand right up to the vent in the kitchen to feel the cool air). But, first, I have to land a year-long contract, so I can afford to have either looked at. I've been doing what I can in trying to cool off the attic, but I read contradictory advice about attic fans and haven't put one on my wish list yet for birthday or Xmas.

Hopefully this time next year I'll be posting about how my bill is a bit better...if not a lot.