Morning

Katie was having a friend sleep over, so I woke up early in order to make them a coffee cake for breakfast. (I had realized, just before going to sleep, that we are almost out of cereal and only have 2 eggs. I don't mind making the girls scrounge for their breakfast from time to time, but I thought I should provide something a little nicer for our guest.)

When I came into the kitchen, Jasper was acting strangely. He usually jumps up and rushes over, tail wagging, but this morning he was laying perfectly still. He thumped his tail when he saw me, but he didn't move so much as a muscle. I knelt down beside him and then I realized why he wasn't moving. Smack up beside him, on the other side of the baby gate, Lucy was curled up asleep on the floor, a beach towel pulled up around her like a blanket.

Lucy has been night-prowling for a few weeks now, but this is the first time that she didn't knock the gate down and come into our room. I complain quite a bit about this kid, I know (and she does cause a good deal of trouble) but the truth is that Lucy is the light of my eyes; she is a wonder to me with her spunk and her humor and her crazy sparkle. As I stood there looking down on my sleeping baby in the hallway, my heart just about broke.

I don't know what to do about this night wandering. I've considered getting those toddler doorknob locks. I'll probably even get some today. I'm not sure it is going to work, though, because I doubt that Abbie will have the fine-motor strength to turn them herself, and she needs to be able to get out occasionally to use the bathroom. I've looked into crib-tents, but they are pretty pricey. Something's got to happen, though, because I can't possibly sleep soundly knowing that Lucy might, at any time, be doing who knows what alone in the house.

In the meantime, a prayer goes up to her guardian angel. And Jasper gets a special treat for guarding her so well. Every time that dog gets on our last nerve, he does something like this to make me love him.

Lucy, meanwhile, gets a lot of hugs and a lot of random kisses from Mommy. And every few minutes or so she gets to hear a toddler-sized lecture: Lucy goes night-night in her bed. Stay in your bed, Lucy. Please, please. My heart can't take it.