The triumph, the tragedy, the con artist

This is long. I'm exhausted, and just going to indulge myself instead of trying to think clearly and write concisely. Only, like, 5 people read this, anyway, so forgive the day-in-the-life-ness of this. Anyway, for the last couple weeks, I've wondered if Cordelia is ever planning to, you know, move. When not being transported. She's perfectly happy to lie on her back on her little mat, and occasionally will kind of turn to one side, but that's about it.

This morning, when the songbird's dulcet tones awakened us at 4:00, we went in to find her on her tummy, looking around confusedly. Maybe she's been practicing at night; maybe she just decided it was time. I thought it might be a fluke.

I was wrong. I coached her a little in the morning and she spent the entire day flipping over. No hesitation, no difficulty at all. She was delighted with herself. The problem was, she couldn't figure out how to either flip back over, or to just lie down with her head to the side, instead of mashing her face down onto the ground or mattress (which of course is why infants are supposed to sleep on their backs). I tried coaching her, held her head sideways to show her, and kept flipping her over to her back again so she could nap. No dice. Lots of frustrated screaming (um, from both of us, maybe).

I can't say I'm unhappy that she's not a girl who wants to be on her back, but the no napping all day about killed me. I was in a bit of a panic, honestly, thinking what on earth I'd do at bedtime. I suspected it would take her a couple of days to figure it all out, and was wondering how much sleep you actually need to survive. Oh, and I start work tomorrow.

Meanwhile, JVL texts. He is somewhere in 95, with a broken-down Jeep, a tow truck, an almost-empty cell phone battery and no idea when he'll be home, poor man.

Both kids get tired at exactly the same time. I got Cody down, fed Cordelia, then as I put her in her crib (on her back) heard a piercing scream from his room. I dropped her like a hotcake and rushed into his room, asking what was wrong. (I should note that he never does this. Once he's down, you never hear a peep.) Here's our conversation:

Me: "Baby, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

CJ, brightly: "Hi Mommy!"

Me, less brightly: "Hi Cody. What's wrong?"

CJ: "Mom, I need something."

Me: "What do you need?"

CJ: "Something."

Me: "What kind of something?"

CJ, looking around, clearly stalling: "I think I need a bear or something. Some kind of buddy to cuddle with."

Me: "Cody, you have all your buddies in here already. Look. Here they are: Patches, Prince, Buddy, Blue, Koala, Seal, Skippy, Tigger, Taggy, Tippy, Gerald, Friedmore, and Bidi. And two pillows. And two other blankets. There's barely any room for you."

CJ: "I know but I think that's not enough buddies Mom. I think I need another one. I think I need another one right now, Mommy."

Anyway, three minutes later, I rushed back to Cordelia's room, figuring all hell was about to break loose. And here's what I found.

Yep. She's a hard case, this one. Very sneaky. I'm just hopeful that she'll sleep better and longer now that she's on her belly. Please God. Please.