Midnight Giggles

I went into Peyton's room in the middle of the night to begin what I thought would be just another late night snack time. Instead of finding the usual grumpy pants (and who can blame him, it is the middle of the night after all and it has been hours since his last meal - 7 to be exact) I found him beaming up at me. Reason number one for not minding being awake at such a wee hour! As his moods do, my happy baby quickly became my hungry baby. Reason number one for not enjoying being awake and such a wee hour! After my ravenous son had his fill of breast milk he suckled himself into a deep sleep and I knew my scratchy, sand filled eyes were moments away from being able to close and I could once again nod off into my own little land of dreams. Silly me, Peyton had different plans. The moment I moved, correction, the moment the very thought of moving ever so quietly and smoothly entered into my mind, Peyton abruptly awoke. My now very full son needed to stretch and grunt and moan, burp and fart and yes, take care of some serious business which unfortunately leads us in a moments time from peacefully sleeping baby to grumpy baby. Reason number two for not enjoying being awake at such a wee hour! Lucky for me, one of Peyton's favorite places to be is lying naked on his changing table. Together we worked to wiggle and grunt our way back to an acceptable level of belly fullness and could once again exchange a few priceless coos and smiles. Grumpy baby can become happy baby just as quickly as the other way around. Reason number two for not minding being awake and such a wee hour! "Typically" we can cuddle and rock ourselves back to sleep in a matter of minutes and be done with our midnight "routine", if you will. But, just when I think something has become "routine" I stand corrected. Note to self: nothing is "typical" anymore. Reason number three for not enjoying being awake at such a wee hour! Several attempts and a very long time later, my beautiful boy is finally sound asleep in his crib dreaming - of his next feeding no doubt. Reason number three for not minding being awake at such a wee hour! Sadly for me, this next feeding will come all to soon and since I've been working so hard to feed and get Peyton back down, I'm now hungry, extremely thirsty and well, since I'm posting, I'm now obviously wide awake. Reason number four for not enjoying being awake at such a wee hour! It's all worth it tonight however, because during our final hold my breath and rock like I've never rocked before session because I swear if he doesn't fall asleep this time...let's just leave it at that, anyway my son laughed! I honestly heard him giggle and it was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. It must have been some dream he was having because he was definitely still asleep and is still probably too young to laugh as a response to something funny, but I saw a smile spread over his face, his lips quiver and he truly laughed out loud. Reason number four for not minding being awake at such a wee hour! Ok, now that I've documented this precious moment, I've come back to reality and realize I've lost precious time for sleeping. Reason number...ah never mind. Good night, sweet dreams!