Happiness is...

We are on an adventure... I hope to get some batteries this morning because the little pocket camera that I brought along has a need for them. I didn't want to lug around my nice big camera AND a baby, so... I brought the little camera and I NEED BATTERIES to take and share any pictures!!

So, being on this adventure involved a night in a hotel. To say I was nervous about this is a complete understatement! Basically one room with 6 people, two of which will be up a few times throughout the time while the rest of the family sleeps. All of the "normal" things I do when bump is crabby and fussy at night were going to be unavailable in a hotel room. Uhm, and our snuggle up in a rocking chair and nurse and rock to sleep will also not work out. Why, again, would I agree to go away this soon?!!

We returned to the hotel last night and while the treekids put on their pajamas and brushed and flossed their teeth, I laid on the bed next to Bump. It wasn't long before he turned his head to look at me. Then he kind of kicked a little and was on his side. A few little wiggles and he was on his way to rolling over towards me!! Holy Cow!!! Is this possible? Is he old enough to roll over? Bump is 11 weeks old. When he rolled, he couldn't get ALL the way over (that is the assessment in my book!) because he couldn't move his left arm, which was pinned under his belly! Now, in his defense... Pops kept pushing Bump back onto his back before he could figure it out!! Then Pops laid on the other side of Bump on the bed "to make it a real challenge." (The beds are soft, so perhaps having me lay there, made an incline he could roll down??) Well, little Bump just isn't so little after all!! It wasn't as easy for him to roll with Pops on the other side. He had to kick his legs a little harder, but he still got the same result - over and over again!

{Insert video footage or a series of pictures taken --here--

... oh, wait! The batteries are dead in the camera. Shucks!!}

Additionally, Bump went to sleep fairly easily last night - it wasn't a cake walk, but I danced around, sang and hummed until a little body began to relax. (I can't say that my dancing, singing and humming at around 10:30 helped any BIG kids go to sleep better after some sugar and fun...) I laid Bump down, tucked him in snug as a bug in a rug at 10:45, got myself ready for bed and climbed in bed and quickly fell asleep. I woke up at 3 o'clock and heard his still stuffy nose breathing away in the corner. I laid there calm and sleepy. Smiled to myself and thought... "YES! He is tacking on another half hour of sleep!"

Bump has been having a stretch of sleep each night for between 3.5 to 4 hours and it was increased slowly about 15 to 30 minutes at a time... usually a week at the new length of time before lengthening that time. So, I was getting pretty excited about the possibility of 4.5 hours of sleep!! (Call me crazy... but it is the simple things in life that please me... SLEEP lots and LOTS of it!!)

So, I fell back to sleep and woke again at 4 o'clock. Bump still sawin' logs. Back to sleep, Mom. I woke at 5 o'clock and heard him stirring. He was kicking and wiggling and flailing his arms up. Then he let out some good squawks and squeaks and I calculated the time... 6 hours and 15 minutes! WHAT!?! Bump just slept for 6 hours and 15 minutes?! Yes. Well, recalculate... 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 plus the quarter... OH, WOW! YES... happiness is a mom who got 6 hours of sleep only interrupted by her own waking for a few minutes!

Can you tell that I am excited!?! I am not sure if this new "trick" will stick or not. But, right now, I don't care! I am so excited to have slept that long that I was as wide awake as could be. If I would have gone back to sleep, it would have been interrupted after just over an hour, so I am glad that I stayed awake and plowed through some email. I don't wake well from a "nap" and would have felt grumpy. Why ruin this great awake feeling that I haven't experienced in FOREVER (or so it seems, since I wasn't sleeping well for the last half of my pregnancy, either!).

Well, that's all folks - I think that Happiness is... a good night's sleep!! (Among many other wonderful happy making things, I suppose! But, it is hard to feel happy about them when you are walking around in a fog of sleepiness.) With that... I am off to shower at a normal early morning hour - something else to be happy about a hot shower to start my day! Oh, I just KNOW this is gonna be a GREAT GREAT GREAT day weekend! Hope yours is spectacular, too!