In the wee hours

I hear a rustle, a few little coos, another rustle. The clock says 3:30am. I look over and my little man is wriggling around. After a few minutes of thinking "maybe he will settle back down again", "I just can't move", "is it really 3:30?", the coos become caws and I know he is wet and hungry. Decision time. Will he scream if I choose to change him first? Will he (and I) fall back asleep if I feed him first and thus make it harder to get up to change him afterwards? I get up, change him, he yells a little but mostly smiles, happy to be dry and with mom at our alone time this early in the morning. We've been up and down all night - well, I've been awake but Honey has been the one to go in to Peanut's room to settle her down. We've finally discovered that she is teething her huge molars which is why we have 2 year old madness time 875. As we settle back into bed to nurse, I hear a little rustling in the other room. This is now become a routine - as I begin to nurse Pumpkin, Peanut wakes up calling for me or daddy. No need for half the family to be awake - we should all be up really. Goodness - it's 4 am - the day is getting away from us! So we tend to babes, and snuggle in, explaining to the older that it is still nighttime and she needs to go back to sleep. Time to roll over and switch sides, but Pumpkin is having none of it. Now that he has his sugar rush, he is wide awake and ready to play. He smiles and wriggles, rolls and complains that I am not an active participant. Daddy takes him and lays him on his chest and I go back to sleep for a blissful few hours. As tired as we are, I wouldn't trade these times for anything.