Oh What A Night

Late December back in sixty-three
What a very special time for me
As I remember what a night

Hmmm, if only. Last night was humid and stuffy, and even though we had the window fan running it still wasn't as cool as I like it to be when I'm sleeping. When I finally quit reading (one of the Myron Bolitar novels by Harlan Coben) and turned out the light I tried to be as still as possible and think cool thoughts. It must have worked at some point, but then I was quickly awakened by a noise that caused my whole body to jolt. I wasn't sure what had caused my sudden waking, and I laid there with my heart pounding wondering what it was I'd just heard - if anything.

I didn't have to wait long before I heard a cough and got up to investigate. E3 was huddled on the floor on Rob's side of the bed. When I asked what she was doing she said, "I'm cwying because I have a coffee-throat." We trooped off to the kitchen for some of the prescription cough medicine she was taking last week and a drink of water, and then I tucked her back into bed. I had taken the bed rail off of her bed this past weekend, so I was able to snuggle in next to her with little effort. She didn't actually request my presence, and I probably shouldn't have started that (it could become a nightly request). However, I usually rock her for a bit when she gets up in the middle of the night while we wait for the meds to begin working - and I had also recently moved the rocking chair out of her room (she needed the space for the little table and chairs in there so she could have parties for her stuffed pals).

I found myself sucked back in time to the days when E1 first started sleeping in that bed and we would snuggle in bed with her until she fell asleep. Many nights, it was a battle to remain awake so the rest of the evening could be spent as we wished (Rob lost the battle more frequently than I - that's where my inability to just drop off to sleep came in handy), and we'd find ourselves peering at her little face in the darkness trying to determine if she was really sleeping. Had her breathing slowed? Was she still rubbing my thumb? Are her eyes open or closed? It wasn't until E2 came along that I finally braved leaving her in there while I went to 'check' on the laundry and returned to find her sleeping. New parents can be such suckers.

In under two minutes E3 had rolled away from me, and finding myself wide awake, I wandered downstairs to see the end result of an Ebay auction (I won!). As I turned to leave the office I found E2 standing in the doorway. When I asked why she was up she tearfully told me, "Because I'm itchy and my body hurts." I sat down with her on the bottom step and checked her over, immediately imagining some sort of allergic reaction and scanning her for hives. She said her body hurt all over. I rubbed some Aveeno on her as I reminded her that she'd spent the better part of the day fishing at the pond at the family farm and that she was probably itchy from playing in the tall grass and such.

Despite her skepticism about only needing lotion, E2 trudged off to bed and I was once again at loose ends. I made a short to-do list for the week -because if those thoughts are out of my head then I don't have to worry about them as I'm falling asleep - and crawled back in bed with the knowledge that I should at least attempt sleep.

Of course the alarm went off to soon this morning, but last night was enough of a reminder that we've got it pretty easy in the sleeping department these days.