One interesting thing about parenting is that new things crop up every now and then that stump you. Such as this: on the days when Brooklyn does not actually sleep during her afternoon nap, she goes down beautifully at bedtime. She falls asleep in no time - with no begging for me or Kyle to come sleep in her bed with her. However. Without fail, on those days, she wakes up with nightmares. Why is that?

I've noticed a distinct pattern in regards to this. And her nightmares are not preceded by watching any new movies, anything scary...just an afternoon naptime where no nap actually happens. I wonder if she gets TOO sleepy and drops into deep sleep TOO quickly and this somehow results in a troubled sleep? I have no idea, really. Just that it is most definitely a conundrum.

Last night, this happened again. And to add to the weirdness, she was sleeping so deeply that she wet the bed. This was early early in the morning after she'd crawled in our bed (unbeknownst to us). She's been sleeping in her "big girl" panties at night for over a month with NO accidents. I heard her sort of crying and moaning and next thing I know, Kyle was jolted from HIS deep sleep by the feeling of a creeping wet warmth on the sheets. He yelped and leapt from the bed! I groggily rolled over and said, huh?? By this time, he was hauling Brooklyn to her room for clean clothes. I really think that in her deep sleep, she just couldn't crawl out of it to tell us she had to pee!

So then this morning. She wakes up....odd. Oddly quiet. Oddly somber. Oddly still. And as I am making french toast in the kitchen, she drapes herself belly-down over a kitchen chair and just hangs there, hair dragging the floor, for about 15 minutes. She slowly and quietly eats her breakfast, claiming she feels fine. I knew something was wrong, but just could not figure out what!

The storm broke while I was on the phone with Kyle. Standing at the sink washing dishes with the phone to my ear, I'm listening to Kyle when I hear this frantic scream, "MOMMY!!!!!" I skid across our tile floor in my socks and see Brooklyn's terrified face looking at me as her hand grabs her little bum. AA! The lightbulb goes off - her stomach IS bothering her! I hang up on Kyle and with lightning speed, whisk B to the bathroom, strip off her clothes (too late...) and plop her on the pot. Within a few minutes, my old Brooklyn is BACK! All it took was a little "explosion." Sigh...

I learned a very valuable lesson. When in doubt, when my child is unnaturally quiet, make her sit on the pot for a while. The problem may resolve itself without requiring a separate load of laundry.