No rest for the weary

7:58 p.m. LM is finally asleep.

7:59 p.m. I announce to The Man that I want to go to bed early. As in, right now. He wants to finish washing the dishes. Since I'm not helping, I decide I should at least stay up as a show of support.

8:20 p.m. Dishes are done and we decide to postpone bedtime to slurp down the last of the ice cream cake.

8:45 p.m. Ooops. Forgot to take out the dog.

9:05 p.m. Put some clothes away that were stacked on the bed.

9:30 p.m. Ahh. Finally in bed. The Man drifts off quickly. Of course.

10:03 p.m. LM starts to make noises. This is not a good sign. I check on him, and he settles back down.

10:24 p.m. LM fussing more. I check on him and he's sitting up. He lays back down and drifts off.

10:45 p.m. LM crying again. His teeth seem to be hurting so we give him some ibuprofen. Also decide to do a preemptive strike--change him a bit early, and give him a bottle. Rock with him in the chair. The man heads back to bed.

11:12 p.m. Just as LM is drifting off peacefully, we are disturbed by the loud clang of a metal trashcan lid smashing into the driveway. I grit my teeth and keep rocking.

11:14 p.m. A second garbage can lid hits the driveway. The Man has slept through both of these loud noises, and the Tropical Pug does too. LM, however, does not.

11:20 p.m. I roust The Man out of bed to find out what the racket is about, only to find a giant raccoon standing atop our garbage cans. We shoo him off, and relocate all the cans inside the garage.

11:31 p.m. I finally get to bed.

1:09 a.m. LM awake. Another bottle. More rocking. Finally asleep.

3:00 a.m. LM awake. I mean, AWAKE. He seems to think it's party time. I spend the next 1 1/2 hours trying to convince him otherwise.

4:38 a.m. I crawl back into bed, desperate for sleep. But instead, I'm wide awake.

6:15 a.m. I wake to the happy babbling of LM, who, after scant few hours of sleep is cheerfully ready to start the day. Mama is not in the same frame of mind.

6:32 a.m. I start chugging coffee and hoping that today's plan to go to bed early will actually work out.