Ear aches and earthquakes

Katie snores. It probably has to do with her ear infection, which has her nose all stuffy. The night of the infamous Midwest Earthquake 2008, she had been up a couple times screaming from what we can only assume is teething pain. The last time, around 4:15, I was sleeping on the couch because Eric's snoring kept me after she went back down at 2. She stopped crying almost immediately after I'd pick her up, and thinking she was good to go back to sleep, she'd start crying again the instant her head hit her mattress.

Finally, I took her to bed with me. She was snuggled in the crook of my arm, fast asleep within seconds. We took our bassett hound to a rescue weeks ago, but it used to be that I'd often lay awake at night, unable to go back to sleep from Eric and Eleanor snoring in counterpoint. It was a familiar occasion, then, when Katie snored in my arms, and Eric snored next to me. I said out loud, "Between the two of you, I just can't catch a break!" Eric woke up, we realized Katie was out for the count, and he took her, limp, back to her crib. It was a few minutes later when the bedroom door rattled, the windows started to shake, and I jumped out of bed, yelling to Eric (who was now laying on the couch), "Did you hear that!?!?"

He thought I was crazy. Only Dad's email proved me correct later that morning.

A couple days ago, I told Eric he needed to go to a sleep clinic in case he has apnea. A friend of ours snored horribly, and when the doctors discovered the level of his apnea, they removed his back of the throat thingy, and he couldn't make the snoring sound if he wanted to after that. Of course, apnea is a serious thing with serious health consequences...but I wouldn't mind getting to sleep a little easier some nights.

The thing to remember, I guess, is that snoring is in her genes. Three out of four of grandparents snore (yes, Mom, you are a regular snorer). And I'm sure I let out a few zzzzs every now and then, too. But somehow, no one else is nearly as cute as a little nine month-old baby.