One Order Of A Full Night's Sleep, Please!

Sunday night we put the kids to bed thinking they would follow their usual pattern and we wouldn't see or hear from them until the morning. It was not to be ...

Julia woke up a couple of hours later crying. David went in a few times to calm her down and eventually came to bed. When she started crying again, I took my turn. I've got a pallet laid out on the floor in their room so I can lay down and snooze if someone is having a rough night. (I used to put it up each night, but I'm too lazy to do that anymore.)

I dozed a bit and each time I heard Julia fuss, I would tell her "Shhhh ... Mommy's right here." She was quiet for a long stretch so I snuck out of their room and headed to bed. Ten minutes later I heard "Mommy? Mommy? Bye bye, Mommy? Bye bye, Mommy? MOMMY!" So I went back in and repeated the same scenario. After I went back to bed that time, Julia skipped the quiet "Mommy?" and went straight to screaming and had advanced to wordless screeching by the time I made it to her crib. I picked her up and she was SO HOT! (Mommy Of The Year Nomination: I had only patted her briefly on the back thus far and hadn't realized the child was sick.)

She went directly to Dave in our bed so he could hold her while I got her some Tylenol, a new diaper, juice and a cool washcloth. After applying everything in that order, she "cuddled" with us in bed until the Tylenol kicked in. And by cuddle I mean she thrashed about, twisting and turning and kicking and poking. And let me tell you, her little noggin doesn't look like it could weigh that much, but when she falls asleep with it directly on your stomach ... well, I would put it at around 15 pounds. She fell asleep around 4 am ...

... slept through us getting up to Dave's alarm at 6:30 am ...

... even slept through Dave getting ready ...

(I thought (hoped) she'd sleep at least until lunch she was so exhausted)

... and woke up around 8:30 am. Happy Birthday to Me!!

I couldn't handle everyone in the house, so we all went outside to eat breakfast and paint ...

Yep. You're lookin' at breakfast.

Gasp! Joanna Lynn, did you send that child out to paint
in the Front Yard with no pants on?!?
Nuh uh.
Nope.
Not me!

Dax chooses not to bother with a pesky thing like looking at his artwork as he paints.

Perhaps he didn't eat enough breakfast?

Joanna Lynn, you did not get tired of cleaning that baby's head
while he screamed bloody murder on the Front Lawn
and just let him walk around
looking like he's part Smurf all day, did you?!?
Nuh-uh.
Nope.
Not me!

And the breakfast eating and painting and cleaning up took about an hour and for the rest of the day poor Julia laid all hunched up on the couch. Which meant I did not get the laundry done, the house picked up or dinner cooked because I was cuddling My Girl.

Which isn't such a bad way to spend a birthday.