Birthday Time

My child doesn't sleep through the night, but I love her anyway.
She sleeps for about three hours, and then wakes up crying inconsolably. The Husband is a good consoler-type, normally, but the more I "help" in the middle of the night the less he appreciates having to console. So I'm half-asleep and I hear the loudest "THUMP"s you can possibly imagine (the sound of him bea-- uh, patting her to dea-- I mean sleep, and then quiet, and he sneaks back into the bedroom, and then FIFTEEN GODFORSAKEN MINUTES LATER we both hear the squall to end all squalls. And then we kill ourselves. And so on for the remainder of the evening, until between three and five, when she sleeps, and then wakes us up with another scream.
At this point we are normally too tired to deal with the whole rocking-chair thing, and we just bring her in our tiny, tiny bed and sleep in ten-minute intervals until my alarm goes off.

And if you do not have children or you have children and infinite patience or if you are insane you are blabbing, "You have to sleep with the baby sleeps." Hey, sure, okay, I'll just shut off my brain and drop right off while she sleeps for like, I don't know, TEN MINUTES? Because here's the thing: If I am awake, and not getting anything constructive done, she will sleep for two hours. If I am sleeping, doing the dishes, scrapbooking, folding laundry, etc...she will sleep for approximately the amount of time it takes me to become immersed in my task, or, you know, almost asleep. And that's if I am home, which I am not four days a week, because I have a job so I remember how to act in polite society.

But I still love her. During the day she is the most cheerful, funny, exited, exuberant baby. She is the cutest thing in the world, except for when she whines. Or disobeys. Stuff like that. She is also whip-smart. Just when I think I've finally had it with her she will run over to me and clap her fat little hands and laugh right in my face, and I have to squeeze her, because she is so cute she's positively edible.

She is one year old today.