Ni Night time....

Mariah has always been a GREAT sleeper...sleeping through the night (defined by 5 hours straight through) since she was two months old! UNTIL we made the leap from the baby crib to the unknown world of toddler beds. What fun Mariah thought! Now I can get up whenever I want (shortly following came the learning to open up the door)!

Over a year later...little Missy is still getting Mommy up several times a night. I wake with her face inches away from mine. 'Mommy. Mommmmy. MOMMY! I have to go pee pee!' or 'Mommy my tummy hurts, will you kiss it?' or 'Mommy, all done ni night!'

Scott often hears little Miss wake-up, but justifies not getting up by 'Well, she called YOUR name.' This coming from the man who responded 'Can you come back during regular business hours?' when I was prego and woke him to report 'It's time to go to the hospital.' In his defense though...Scott is a heavy sleeper (very heavy) and if Miss Mariah wants Mommy...Daddy just won't do, and she will let you HEAR her displeasure.

Why does her crying create so much anxiety at three o'clock in the morning? I respond rapidly during those midnight hour wakings...'Shhhhh...I'll rub your back. I'll rock you. I'll give you a pony. I'll buy you a castle. Just PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop crying Missy G!' As if I, the sleep deprived Mommy of a two (almost three) year old cares if my screaming toddler wakes the neighbors!

As I glare lovingly at my husband cuddled up, warm and toasty in our bed, I stumble Mariah down the hallway back to her room. I tuck her in. I convince her that I can hear the 'treat fairy's' wings and she simply MUST go to sleep right now; after all the treat fairy will only leave a treat for a sleeping princesses.

So those are our nights. Night in and night out...until recently. Out of sleep deprivation and maybe a tiny bit of laziness I have begun putting Mariah right smack in the middle of Scott and I in our bed...the cure we've all been waiting for! Mariah hardly wakes, often sleeping until 7:00 or 7:30 AM. Nevermind Scott and I have to tip toe around her in the morning to get ready for work. Nevermind she kicks all night long and insists that some part of her body be touching mine. Nevermind she is like sleeping with an electric blanket putting of some major Mariah Thermal Units. It is well worth it. One of the things I SWORE I would never do as a parent. 'Not me' I said. 'My kids will never sleep in the bed with me.' and, here I am. Defeated. Defeated but well rested!