Sleep Happens, right?

i'm not sure what happened. but florida messed us all up. (i know it is totally not florida's fault, florida is a lovely place and we'd all live there if we could)
so before we left for florida sabine was sleeping from 7:30pm until about 7 or 8 am and waking to eat at 2 and at 5. and she'd been skipping the 2 am meal at least three times a week. i thought we were well on the way to sleeping through the night and i was dreaming of and also mourning the idea of moving her into her own room in the next few weeks. in florida it was the same, she had a little trouble going to sleep but slept fine in the crib on the other side of the room.
then we got back... and all heck broke loose.
it was a week of terror on all fronts. child just would not stop crying and spitting up and wouldn't nap or anything. she would not let us put her down to play and wasn't interested in anything. we even called the doctor. but in baby terms if she's pooping, peeing, eating, and sleeping at night with no fever.. nothing's really wrong. we've decided it was a growth spurt. it was about time for one.
now things have calmed down. as i sit to write this she is actually napping on her own in her crib (!) (as in not attached to me in any way!) the nap may only last 30 to 45 minutes but that's ok. so now that she's more organized, i'd expect the night sleeping to settle back in, right? sleep until 2am or 5 am and be moving towards the whole night. NOT SO. apparently, it is much more fun to be awake more in the night. so now she's waking 3 or more times and it's hard to tell if it's to eat or just to be awake.
arg! we never had this with the newborn phase so i am less than impressed to have it now. oh well. i guess i'll just be glad for naps.
oops! that's ending now too. crying girl to get!