The job is great, but the hours suck!

This weekend has been fabulous... by day.  The weather has been San Francisco at it's best.  Warm and sunny with a slight breeze.  Going on long walks with the kids, taking Charli for bike rides around the neighborhood, going to the park, and having barbecues with friends.  Jeff's brother, Bill, has come to visit and Charlotte is so happy.  She loves fresh meat to coerce into playing games and reading to her for hours. Our nights, however, have not been so idyllic.  

Brooke used to be a great sleeper.  She was sleeping 5 to 7 hours straight every night from two weeks of age.  (much to the jealousy of my friends with young children)  Unfortunately, she has recently remembered that she is, in fact, a baby.  For the past few weeks her sleeping stretches have declined steadily, and my sleep, and fuse length have disappeared along with them.  Last night was the worst so far, with Brooke's internal timer set at 20 minutes.  I got to see 12 am, 12:20 am, 12:40 am, 1 am, and on and on, until 3 am.  Just when I was trying to figure out which of us was going to live through the night, her timer was reset to about 1 1/2 hours.  Better, but only by comparison.  During our every 20 minute break from that pesky state of slumber, Charli woke and needed moral support in the bathroom.  Then she came into our bed where she performed somersaults and other acrobatic feats that ended with her kicking me square in the face.  That didn't go over well with the sleep deprived mommy who then growled "head on the pillow, feet down, or GET OUT!".  She immediately obeyed, but also whispered groggily "mommy, we don't yell".  She always knows the best way to bring me back to my senses and make me feel awful at the same time.  Many days, I don't know who is parenting who.  Sometimes I feel sorry for my kids that they have to be the guinea pigs for my parenting experiment.  Much of the time I feel the experiment is going quite well.  Sometimes, its a train wreck.  I can only hope they will forgive and (even better) forget my missteps.  Just like I will forget the pain of childbirth, the sleepless nights, and the fact that I ever wanted to throw my children out of a window.