Oh sleep where have you gone?

This too shall pass...this too shall pass....this too shall pass.  That's what I have to keep telling myself over and over and over again. 

Isaac has been having a terrible time sleeping and we don't know if it is related to his enlarged tonsils and adenoids, sleepwalking, dreams, nightmares, or what exactly is causing this disruption.  He was a good sleeper starting at 2 1/2-3 months.  He slept all night long and slept until 7:00 or 7:30.  Around 18 months he started waking up once in the night which still wasn't that bad.  Right before he turned 2 he started throwing fits when we put him to bed.  He would shake his crib, yell, scream and throw long drawn out temper tantrums.  Once he finally got to sleep he would sleep all night.  THEN he learned how to climb out of his crib and he climbed out over and over and over again.  Needless to say we had to put him in the toddler bed.  It took a couple weeks to get him accustomed to falling asleep and not getting out of bed .  There is also a twin bed (guest bed) in Isaac's room so after a couple months of sleeping in the toddler bed we would find him in the twin bed in the morning.  What a stinker.  Well this past month has been very BAD for sleeping.  He throws terrible temper tantrums.  He bangs on his door, runs around the room, yells, screams.  I hate listening to it.  I feel so frustrated and helpless.  We've tried letting him cry it out and he used to finally give in after 20 minutes or so.  Not anymore.  He will literally cry for hours on end.  I'm not sure if it is a separation anxiety phase or not, but it seems like if we're laying beside him or near him he's fine but the minute we leave he freaks out.  Neither Ross or I were getting much sleep and we had to do something.  We thought he might be comforted by having Caleb in his room so we set up the 2 toddler beds in Caleb's room.  That did not work at all.  In fact, I wasn't prepared for this, but Caleb wanted to be in the toddler bed.  He's been there for about a week now and he sleeps all night without getting up.  What a big boy.  Okay back to Isaac.  So then he moved to the floor of our room a couple nights and now is in our bed. 

It's one thing for him to go through this separation anxiety phase and refuse sleep, but he's also a very restless sleeper.  He is constantly moving, snores, grinds teeth, sleepwalks.  It's quite the time.  The only one getting adequate sleep is Caleb. 

We began wondering about Isaac's behavior.  It's hard to say whether he's the typical toddler going through the terrible 2's or if something else is going on.  His behavior did get worse when he stopped sleeping well so I am thinking now that sleep has A LOT to do with it.  Isaac gets his tonsils and adenoids removed on August 6th and after recovery is through we'll try working on the bedtime routine again.  In the meantime Ross and I take turns sleeping in the bed with him or twin bed in his room. 

So if I could ask, please say a few extra prayers for Isaac in the upcoming weeks.  I pray his surgery goes well, that recovery goes well and that his normal sleep pattern returns.  I know what I feel like when I don't sleep well, I can only imagine how he feels.