Weird stuff at night...

Those of you who know DJ and I personally have probably heard a story about him doing weird shit at night. It's a kind of sleepwalking, usually occouring when he's super tired and run down. Since we've been dating he's:

• convinced me (in my sleep) that one of the kids he was coaching in baseball spilled a glass of water in bed and I had to get out of bed (he'd been all-baseball, all the time for the previous week)
• sat up in bed trying to catch the olives coming out of the downspout and into our bedroom window (we'd gone to the olive bar at Roseaurs the previous night)
• got out of bed and kicked the floor, thinking we were putting the dock ramp at the lake back in. And then been pissed at me for making him get back in bed (we'd been at  the lake, and had put the dock ramp in)
• jumped out of bed to peer out the window for no apparent reason (I have no idea)

Like many adults who sleepwalk, DJ gets both angry and embarassed when you catch him sleepwalking. But when I remember the episode later the next day, I'll go walking into his office and say "do you remember how last night you..." and we both dissolve into giggles.

The article I linked to notes that sleepwalking can be genetic. DJ's dad sleepwalks too; one night as the train came through town DJ's dad dreampt that his mom was sleeping on the train tracks, so he saved her life by throwing her out of bed!

I haven't been thrown out of bed (yet), but I am going to start blogging about the weird shit DJ does at night, both as a record, and to try to identify what triggers it.
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Friday, April 2, 2010:

• Dinner: burger and fries
• Alcohol consumption: two beers and a whiskey coke
• Environmental factors: the end of a really long, stressful and busy week. Actually discussed his weird shit at night with co-workers. Puppy waking up about once a night, thus disrupting sleep.

Episode: It's no suprise that the additon of a puppy to our household has meant less sleep for both of us. And DJ especcially struggles when shorted on his sleep. In the past he's drempt that the dog is out of her crate, running through the house, under the bed, or in bed with us.

On Friday night, I woke up to DJ pawing around in bed.

CK: "What are you doing?"
DJ: (grumble grumble grumble) "The dog--in bed!"
CK: "No, that's the bear blanket that you're petting." (we have a furry blanket that we put on our bed in the winter, referred to as the bear blanket).
DJ: (in a super whiney voice) "Uh uhhh! She's upstairs!!"
CK: (coming more fully awake) "DJ she's downstairs in her kennel."
DJ: (gets out of bed) "Uh uhhhh she got out!"

... then he woke up, and was pissed at me for waking him up. Later in the morning, after I'd gotten back into bed from letting the dog out, I giggled and let him know not to worry, the dog was in her crate. He did NOT think that was funny.

I think the standard procedure is to let sleepwalkers act out their dream, and not wake them up. But I can't stop myself as I wake up, and it makes for some highly entertaining conversations.