Good morning!

Is there a way you can synchronize your kids so that if they both get up in the middle of the night, they at least get up at the same time? (No? Someone should get on that.) Mark O is a pretty good sleeper, however he is only an 8 pound human so his need to eat every few hours is understandable. Inconvenient for my REM cycle, but understandable nonetheless. Laurel has many excuses for waking up, often creative and hilarious. A few nights ago, it was not enough pillows (she had four, and wanted six. Sorry, no, we can't accommodate that request, Laurel.) On Saturday night, she fell asleep in the car on our way home from my aunt and uncle's birthday party. Around 2am, when I was nursing the baby in the rocking chair, she came marching into our room with her entourage of stuffed animals and proceded to tuck them into bed....on my side! Then she said to me, "Sorry, mom, you're going to have to sleep in my room, there's no space for you here." She was still in her party dress and sparkly tights, with disheveled hair, so it made for a particularly entertaining scene. She mimics my catch phrases now..."Here's the deal, mom...." and the lays out why she thinks she should get not just one pink M&M for going on the toilet in the middle of the night, but an entire packet. Despite the fact that she's been potty trained for half a year and isn't going to pee her pants anyway...M&Ms or not.

Obviously, with these sort of antics, I'm really cheerful in the mornings now. Ahem.

This is why children have learned to be especially cute in the morning. It's a survival mechanism to make you forget how many times they woke you up over the previous 8 hours.