Anyway, I have ended up in with the girls the last three nights in a row. Dude has been cranking out some long work hours and I figured he deserved five uninterrupted hours of sleep each of those nights and I volunteered to be the middle-of-the-night parent. By the time last night rolled around, I was major-league tired. That did not stop me, though, from staying up really late watching recorded So You Think You Can Dance and The Fashion Show (please don't judge me on my crap-television viewing habits - or go ahead and know that I really don't care). I went up to bed about 12:40am and as I was just about to pull back the covers to snuggle in with my sleeping Dude, the Bug woke up and started howling at the gate. I never even touched my bed. I went straight to the girls' room and hunkered down for the night. Only the Bug was UP. For hours. Dude said he heard me bitching at her about 4am. I know the particular bitching he's referring to because I got a little loud (can you say beyond tired and frustrated?). She finally fell asleep shortly after that.

All of a sudden, I awoke from a dream where I felt like I was being smothered...only to discover that a diaperless kid was crawling over my face. I sat up and Belly started laughing as I flipped her around. Yep. No diaper. I did a quick assessment of the scene: morning light coming in the window, water/pee-logged diaper in the far corner of the room, brand new package of wipes almost completely pulled out into a pile on the floor, every book and toy off the shelves and the Bug sitting with her back to me reading a Richard Scarry book. At which point Belly gave me a kiss and announced to the Bug, "Mama." The Bug turned around, made note of me, sorta looked like she was annoyed at having her reading interrupted, then promptly went back to her book. I grabbed my phone. 6:49am. To which I thought, WTF?! 

Seriously. Those girls clearly had been up for awhile. I can understand Belly having plenty of energy, but the Bug? Does she not need sleep anymore?! That just doesn't work for me. I'd like to say this in a way that does not mince words: I need her to sleep so that I can sleep. I am not a good parent at 4am. I beg. I swear. I want to cry. It's not pretty. 

Tonight Dude is on kid duty. I hope everyone sleeps through the night. I know I will.