Sweet Little Will

Two nights ago, Will had a rare pee accident. There's no phrase more dreaded in the middle of the night than a tearful, "I peed" - and nothing guaranteed more to wake you from your haze of slumber. I was already sleeping in the upstairs guest bed because Neva was stuffy and getting up to nurse a couple times a night, and it was easier to get to her that way. After I stripped him, showered him, tucked him into the guest bed to sleep with me, and then stripped his bed and put everything into the wash, I fell into bed next to him and conked out.

Not long after, Neva's sad little wail alerted me that, once again, she was having trouble breathing through her nose and needed some tender loving care. Will was still awake as I sat up and crawled back out of bed. "Mom," he asked, "after you nurse Neva, will you come back to me?"

"Yes, buddy, I'll be right back."

I changed her and nursed her in the rocking chair. She nursed and nursed, unusually wakeful. Every time I thought she was sleeping and attempted to put her on my shoulder to burp, she cried. Eventually, eventually, she rested in her crib. I fell back into the guest bed, flat on my stomach, and felt Will snuggle up next to me. I slept like the dead until my alarm woke me at 5:30.

That morning, I spent time downstairs with Neva, then went back upstairs to get the kids ready for the day when I heard them waking up. Will lay smiling at me from the guest bed. "Mom, I was rubbing your back," he said proudly. "I was rubbing your back and playing with your hair."