In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle....

The Lion may sleep...but Bella does not, at least when I do. For many years, I enjoyed my quiet evenings. There weren't a lot, because there are always dishes and laundry and things that need to be done. Every so often when Phil was TDY I'd get a night to scrapbook or make cards or sew some fun project. Last week when Phil was in Alaska, eating King crab legs and seeing exotic animals at a zoo- I was living with exotic animals in my zoo. One night I managed to glue the pictures on a scrapbook page that I started months ago. Thumpty thump thump thumpety thump- here comes Miss Bella down the stairs. She, like Phil and Phillip, is a night person. I am not. I used to be a morning person. Now most days I question even my own humanity. So Bella helped me glue the pictures on the scrapbook. And then she fell asleep on the couch. Since a few months ago, she has been desperately trying to

give up naps. I have desperately been trying to keep them. If she does nap- she then will not go to bed until 10 or later. This does not work for me. When I found out I was pregnant with her and most of the shock subsided, I realized that any last shred of personal time was going to be a memory. I knew that if ,by chance in the next 10-15 years I got to go to the bathroom or shower by myself it was probably an accident on their part. Lily wakes up at the crack of dawn- sometimes before. She even beats Kiera up most mornings. Phillip knows how to fly quietly under the radar at night. He knows if he doesn't ask me 20 questions and minds his own business, I will get involved in something and zone him out until 9 or so. But I have always been lucky. They all usually just go to bed when they get tired. I don't like nighttime battles. I'm not going to quibble. Bella likes to quibble. She's very stealthy too. Like a little mouse. I'm going about my business and turn around...there she is on the couch, pink blankey draped across her lap and thumb in her mouth. It takes me 3-4 tries a night. She shares a room with Lily- so she goes to bed, but gets bored when Lil crashes. Then she sneaks down to see what I am up to. She stopped napping, and so the visits have become fewer- but she tends to crash in strange places in the afternoon or early evening. Most often she falls asleep on the couch, sometimes the stairs, a couple times in the hall- usually right in front of her door. Early on in my learning curve, I would open the door to check on her and end up schwacking her with it and waking her up. Now- if it's quiet- I know she's asleep or playing quietly and leave well enough alone.