Just to clarify, Ally waking up the other night was an aberration. She has finally been sleeping through the night pretty regularly. Every once in a while she wakes up, but she usually has a reason. A week or two after Christmas we had a hell of a time getting her to actually go to sleep. She'd be up playing in her bed for hours after we read her stories. I think it was just all the change in schedule and excitement though, because it seems to be settling back to normal now. (Except naps. We'll see if that improves this weekend. She stayed awake through her naps last weekend. They just ended up being quiet time)
Anya, on the other hand, is a butt about sleeping. She was such a good sleeper as a baby. But as soon as she got mobile, she got over it. Her normal routine is to go to sleep around 7. She wakes up around 10:30 or so and again around 2-3. I used to nurse her back to sleep, but I was going insane. Soetimes she woke more often. Sleep-deprived Katie is not a fun person. I tried everything, and am currently working on a new plan. I think it's improving. I comfort her in her crib and only in her crib. She yells, I go in and she's standing at the rails waiting for me. She leans her head against me and after she has calmed a little, I lay her down and pat her back / sing to her / hold her hand / let her pull my hair / whatever works. Except picking her up. If she doesn't lay down, I start over. Monday night I thought we were doing great. She's started to make the connection. She was leaning against me and bent her knees to lay down before I even moved. I think the screaming fit she had while I was gone at dance the other night disrupted her. Anyway, last night at 10:40 she laid back down without a fight at all and was asleep almost instantly. I wasn't even out of bed for 2 minutes. At 3:10 she lay back down pretty fast and I left to pee and came back to checck on her. She was restless, so I patted her back a while. It took about a half hour for her to go back to sleep. Yes, it's still not great, but it's a BIG improvement. Then she woke up at 4:45 to eat and I woke her at 6:00 to get ready for day care. I'm not real thrilled with the 4:45 wake-up, but I'm willing to let it go for now.
So there. Much more information than you needed, but I'm encouraged. I hope this is actually a pattern of less awake time and not a fluke. Maybe someday I'll actually feel human again.