Sleeping like a baby

The boy has never been one for sleeping. He doesn't want to miss out onwhat's going on.

Even before the tumour he was never one for long sleeps, preferring short nights and the minimum of naps during the day. Even now, when being taken upstairs to his cot for an afternoon nap he tries to high dive out of your arms and when put in bed throws himself around the cot, raging at the unfairness of it all. It doesn't seem to matter to him that his cheeks are pale with fatigue and his lips are starting to go a bit blue from lack of oxygen.

Asleep he looks like a Bernini angel, the pale skin, pale lips and lack of hair adding to the effect. Little hands above the head like some sort of cherub pleading to a higher divinity.

When he wakes up he doesn't lie in or in any way gradually adjust to the world. Rather, he goes from lying down asleep to sitting bolt upright in his cot like some sort of Hammer Horror villain waving his arms in a blur of orders - putmyblanketaway, takethemonitoroffmytoe, drawtheblind, turnthelighton, turnthetvon, turnthemilkoff and of course wheresmummy. Which is exactly what he's done now and is very cross I'm not responding fast enough.