Gracie got caught in a bear trap...

... or at least thats how Jeff describes the sound we heard coming from her room at 5:00 this morning. The poor kid was screaming NO NO NO at the top of her lungs... followed by MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY! when she saw that Jeff was coming to her rescue. We still haven't figured out what woke her up or what scared her, but she was soon pacified by him laying down with her and was back asleep within 15 minutes. He figured all was well and came back to bed. Knowing Gracie, I knew she would be awake again shortly when she saw he was gone. So I stayed awake. And sure enough, about 10 minutes after he crawled back in bed, she's at it again. Screaming loud enough to wake the neighbors. This time, I took my pillow and told him I would see him in a few hours! She had tears streaming down her little face, but when I told her I would lay down with her, she grinned from ear to ear. I couldn't be upset with her after she smiled. She loves it when I lay down with her, and unless I'm really, really tired and just can't sleep in her bed, I like it too. She's a snuggler. It didn't take her long to go back to sleep, but I couldn't. After tossing and turning for a while, I ever so gently crawled out of her bed. I thought it had been just a few minutes, but when I went to check the clock to see how much time I'd have to snooze, it was 7:00! No matter, while the rest of the world is getting up to start their day, I tried to sneak in one more hour. And I did... and I think I felt better at 5:00 than I did at 8:00!

I should have seen this all coming from a mile away. This week, I made the mistake of saying, "Gracie has been sleeping great lately... this is the most sleep we've gotten in forever." Yeah, I jinxed it. We have a rule around here... that we never say the girls are healthy or haven't been sick in a long time, because just as soon as we say it, one of them comes down with a fever or gets sick in one way or another. New rule... no commenting on how good she has been sleeping. Unless I want a sleepless night! Now, I wonder if this would apply to potty-training.. "Gracie hasn't gone on the potty in ages!" Then, maybe she would?? Yeah, I doubt it too.