In the Middle of the Night

Last night I got this song stuck in my head and I'm still singing it this morning, hence the title of this post. Around 2:30 I was woken up by the sound of Hyrum blowing bubbles with his tongue and cooing. He was awake, but content. I listened to him from my bed as I tried to force my eyelids to stay open. I sat up in bed and touched my feet to the cool hardwood and ventured over to the next room. The floor creaked and groaned as I walked across the landing. Knowing where the "bad" spots are, I was able to maneuver my tired legs around them so that I wouldn't wake up Camilla with the noise. I looked over the edge of the crib and saw the faint outline of a grin as he kicked his legs in excitement. I tucked his little arms back into his blanket and wrapped him up snug, then cradled him in my arms as I walked to the rocking chair. I sat and nursed him for quite a while, but he would not go back to sleep. Finally, wrapped up tight, I tucked him back into his crib and left him to fall asleep on his own. He continued to coo and blow bubbles for the next half an hour. Finally, slightly annoyed that he was keeping me up, I hopped out of my warm bed again and tried to feed him one last time. He nursed for a few seconds, then looked up at me and stared. There in the dark we sat and rocked and stared into each others eyes. I took my fingers and started drawing on his face. First, around his eyes, then across his forehead, then down the side of his face, up to his ear, and around his eyes. As I sat I listened to the odd car drive by on the street and watched the glow of the orange streetlights outside the upstairs window. With every circle I made around his eyes, they slowly began to close. Just as he fell asleep I heard the 3:30 train whistle in the distance. I snuggled him for a second and then placed him in his crib and covered him up. As I left the room in my tired state I thought of the events of that special moment over and over so that I wouldn't forget them in the morning. I didn't want to forget the way that he looked up at me and watched my face. I didn't want to forget the warmth of his tiny body as it cuddled into mine. I didn't want to forget the love that I felt for my growing baby boy. I went back to bed grateful for the special time that we got to spend together, just the two of us, in the quiet dark room of our old house.