Late Night Brynna

B's schedule has shifted a bit toward the night owl over the last month, as I have been working a lot of afternoon and nighttime shifts in the Emergency Department, and a later bedtime means that she sleeps in with me in the morning and then we have a couple of hours together before I take her off to daycare. But she is still in bed most nights loooong before I get home from work.

Last night, I got home around 11:30 and went up to get ready for bed, creeping into Brynna's room first to check on her. She was stirring as I opened the door, and then she sat up once she saw me.

"Mama room!" she whispered through her pacifier.

"You want to come to Mama's room?"

"Yah," she answered, standing up and extending her arms to me.

"Oh, sweetie, I have to wash my face and brush my teeth and change my clothes first. Can you wait while I do that?"

"Yah."

"OK, well, then you sit down and wait, and I'll go do those things and come back."

She plopped down in her crib and picked up Puppy, her Jasper-look-alike puppet companion.

I headed off to the bathroom, sure that by the time I returned, she would be fast asleep again in her crib, but hoping that she might somehow stay awake, since it really is nice to see her twice a day rather than just once.

But when I came back into her room ten minutes later, she was sitting there with Puppy, waiting for me.

"You want to come to Mama's room now?"

"Yah. Milch!"

So I took her to our room and she had some milk and we both fell asleep. She ended up back in her crib a few hours later after she started kicking Alex. (Note to those of you contemplating children in the future: that double bed that is sized just fine for two...it is not big enough for three!) But then she came back to bed with me around 6:45 and slept snuggled in next to me until 8:30.

When she woke up, she started saying "Mama ummy! Ummy!" Dazed from sleep, I started trying to figure out what she was going on about.

"You're hungry?"

"Ummy, Mama, ummy!" she insisted, gesturing emphatically at the mattress.

I finally figured out that she was saying "Mama tummy," and she wanted me to roll over so that she could rub my back. Perhaps she has a future as a massage therapist.

Today was our last nice mellow morning together. Starting next week, I go back onto the inpatient adult medicine service for a month, though as a senior, supervising resident this time. My schedule regularizes to 7 AM to 6 or 6:30 PM most days...so at least I'll be home for bedtime.