Bye bye baby.

Can I blather on a bit more about Charlotte and sleep? Yes. Yes, I can. (There is something about having a house full of young children that makes sleep - or the lack of sleep - a seemingly endless topic of conversation. That and poop. But I won't go there. At least not today.) 

Recently Charlotte has been waking at night - sometimes a couple times a night - from nightmares. When this happens she quietly crawls out of her bed and runs across the hall and wiggles her way into our bed. And then she sweetly whispers in my ear, "I can't sleep. I had a bad dream mama."  I respond by whispering a prayer in her ear for Jesus to take away any bad thoughts and wrap her in my arms and we both doze off snugly and warm. 

Joe very much dislikes when children join us in our bed (major understatement)! But I must admit, I really like these middle of the night snuggles with my big girl. And that's saying a lot as person who really LOVES sleep. But Charlotte is so considerate in middle of the night (unintentionally I am sure but appreciated nonetheless). First off, she never wakes her sister. Plus she hardly interrupts my sleep as she doesn't call out and make me come to her (like a certain child I know. Hmm hmm Isaiah). Instead she quietly joins me in my bed and fills my arms with her warm squishy body. Her body snuggled up to mine at night just seems to fit. Like two puzzle pieces. It reminds me of when my babies were actual babies and fit in my arms as if they were a part of me. 

I miss that. 

Because here's the thing, I don't have a baby anymore. In this house I have three children. I am not sure when or how it happened but truth be told my baby is a toddler now. I really noticed this for the first time when we returned from Mexico. Hannah seemed to have grown 5 inches while we were gone and was all sorts of independent upon our return. 

So yeah, I will gladly accept middle of the night snuggles where my "babies" melt into me. It fills the empty place between my arms as well as my heart. Plus, I really like their sweet sleepy breath. Weird. I know. I'm a mom. What can I say?!