Beautiful Sleep

How in the world did I end up with a morning person for a daughter? What irony. Every morning, the sun rises in Helen's crib and shines pretty brightly too. She has generally such a sweet temper that she simply makes you feel good about yourself. The other day, she was a little cranky due to tooth #6 popping through. Then someone came to our house, and she had an instant mood change--"HI!!!! How are you? My name's Helen. It's so nice to meet you, and what great hair and shoes you have! I just can't stop smiling at you since you're smiling at me, so let's just have a smiling party!" And when that person left, the dark side came back out again for just boring old mom. I must say though that her morning smile is very sweet and I wouldn't trade it.

I think Owen takes after me in sleep habits. He gets pretty wound up in the evening, and everything is funny to him at bedtime, which makes you want to keep him up longer so you can hear him laugh. But hold the load when he wakes up--everything must be just right (Mommy can't be holding Helen and must hold him) or he can be foul. Owen is so proud of his new big boy bed. He's only fallen out about 3 or 4 times so far. (It's a foot off the floor, and we pad the floor with a folded heavy blanket.) He loves his bed, and usually stays in it after he wakes up until we come and get him, Lord be praised.

We permanently hung the hammock that we bought at the market in Managua. What a relaxing treat it is. It is also a magnet for one's children--it holds the most attraction usually at the moment of deepest need of rest.