Wake-up call

Considering how much I post about my sleepless nights, I figured it was only fair to write about a good evening for a change. Yesterday Nacho was called for a three day trip, so we said goodbye to him mid-afternoon and prepared for a long night ahead. By about 6:30pm, Elisa had taken a good few ounces in and was getting drowsy so we laid her down around 7:45pm. Mom fixed a nice dinner and we enjoyed some peace and quiet for a change.

Of course, there had to be some trade-off and it was clear from the phone calls my niece Mia began making to us, that another granddaughter far away was having a very different kind of evening. My sister and her husband were off to the Marine Corps Ball last night, enjoying some time together after his recent return from Iraq. Apparently, Mia has been having some bad dreams of late and was really missing her grandma last night, so she called mom wanting to hear her voice before bedtime. After a series of calls, though, it was clear that perhaps grandma's voice alone wasn't doing the trick. There is just no substitute for a good hug and a snuggle when you are missing someone like that.

So a few hours pass and mom has checked back with my nephew Jordan to see how Mia was doing. Luckily, she had fallen asleep so we felt the evening drama had probably ended. Oh, no. Meanwhile, our little Elisa was waking up around midnight and after wolfing down another bottle went right back to sleep. It was a delightful end to the day. I climbed into bed around 1am and figured I wouldn't be there long. But waking around 2am, I realized this might be a good sign and went back to sleep, happy to hear mom snoring away while Elisa remained contently asleep.

Around 3:40am though, I heard my phone ringing in the living room. I thought it might be a wrong number, so I waited until I heard the alarm for a new voicemail before climbing out of bed and tiptoeing past my sleeping angel. When I got to my phone, I saw that I had missed a call from Jordan's cell phone and listened to the message from a distraught little girl--yes, Mia had made the call to talk to grandma one more time. I immediately dialed her back, half awake myself, thinking this was a good thing to do. Of course, hearing my voice, Mia sounded like she wasn't really too distressed and quickly whispered a goodbye after I told her we were all sleeping and she should too. Her hushed tone told me that she was probably huddled down in her bed trying not to let anyone at home hear her talk--a definite no-no, but sweet nonetheless. When I returned to bed, mom turned over and I told her that Elisa was still sleeping, but Mia had just called. We both laughed about this turn of events. I guess you never outgrow needing your grandma in times like these.