I second that, Ivy-- I mean, other parents (I think) must just have no real idea what one of these kids is like. Her first three years took many many years off of OUR lives, I'm pretty convinced. The sleep deprivation alone is mind-boggling. Her first year, I don't think that DH or I either one slept for longer at a time than two hours. I'm really not kidding.
She also screamed. REALLY screamed-- for hours at a time. In retrospect, a combination of horrific allergy issues and upper respiratory/ear infections was a significant contributing factor to some of that horror show, but still.
Napping? What napping? As a newborn, DD seemed to need about 12 hours of sleep a night, and it's never been that much since. She sleeps almost as little as I do (7hr daily, sometimes 6), and she's a teenager.
