Rest for Lease ~ One Long Sunday Blog

On Monday the baby began her morning in the wee hours, just before 5:00 am. I caught her by the sound of her tiny feet tip-tapping across the hardwood floors. I wrestled her back to bed and attempted to soothe her return to dreamland. Instead, I slipped back in to a coma-like sleep myself and she ran off. She did as she always does and pounced on her big brother 'til he was awake and then the two of them proceeded to tag-team their big sister in an attempt to overthrow the house regime. You see, they know that I don't stand a chance against all three of them and they use it against me.

Before I knew it they were simultaneously asking different things of me. One wanted water, another was ready for oatmeal, and the littlest of all wanted to cuddle in bed. Really? Now you wanna relax?! I cut my losses and get a move on. The rest of the morning went pretty smoothly, but there was a steep edge you could feel in the air. We were all teetering on the brink through our delirious, sleep deprived minds.

Nap time!

Oh, nap time how I love thee! Some down time in the middle of the day does us all some good. Even if the big kids don't nap anymore, they do participate in quiet time and it's a welcome retreat. Or at least it's supposed to be, that is, when the baby actually sleeps! Naw, naw, not today. She's learned to climb out of her play yard of a bed and now finds it quite entertaining to dance out of her room, look me in the eye, and pass off a mischievous smile as she darts back to her room. Over and over and over again we played this little game until quiet time was long over.

I cut my losses again.

The rest of the day was disturbing to say the least, but we made it through. Until dinner when the baby literally fell asleep in her highchair. I cleaned her up, changed her diaper, stuck her in PJs and tossed her in bed. It was 5:15 pm. My mom told me later that night that she'd be up by 10 o'clock ready to play. Why are moms always right?!  10:15 pm and baby appears in the hallway staring me down with heavy, stubborn eyes. We cuddle, we change her diaper, we have a warm bottle of milk, we read Good Dog, Carl, twice. Nothing. I took her in to my bed and snuggled her back to sleep: two kicked ribs, a handful of pulled hair, a poked eye and nearly three hours later. Most importantly, she did it all over again this morning, 5:00 am, not a moment too soon.

So, if you're in the area, this place has rest for lease. Just in case you need some too.