When Penny started fussing around 1, Matt barely stirred - usually he's up before I'm fully awake. But his cold's been getting worse while mine's been getting better, so I thought I'd get up in his place and let him get a little extra sleep. 1 AM and I are old friends, after all.

And in truth, the feeding itself wasn't so bad. Penny was Starving! To! Death! so I had to make up a little extra after she finished the first bottle. And she didn't want to go back to sleep right away - every time I thought she was sound asleep in my arms, I'd put her in the crib and her eyes would pop open and she would start looking around eagerly, waving her arms and legs.

But a little before 2 I put the blanket over her and turned out the light and left her there, waving her arms and looking around at the shadows in the dark. I went back to bed and nervously listened to her on the baby monitor, certain I'd have to get up again at any moment. But within about ten minutes, she'd stopped making noises that I could pick up over the sound of the humidifier.

She isn't always - or even usually - that sanguine about being put down when she's awake. But every time it works, I get a warm glow of pride. Falling asleep without being held or rocked is, in fact, a skill, and one that lots of babies don't learn until they're toddlers. It's good that Penny's learning to do it so early.

So I'd only been up for an hour, and Matt had gotten some extra rest, and I was feeling okay. All ready to snuggle back down into bed and get back to sleep.

Except.

My damned cough, which had spent the whole day being just a dry, tickle-y kind of cough - the kind that you can suppress with a little effort and eventually get to sleep over - turned into an actual wet, get-that-crap-out-of-here kind of cough the instant I laid back down. The kind that can't really be suppressed because it's interfering with your breathing.

After half an hour of hacking, I gave up. I went downstairs and took a shot of cough syrup, then went back to bed in the guest bedroom, so I wouldn't wake up Matt. I hacked for another half hour or so before finally settling in to sleep.

I hate being sick. I especially hate coughing. Bleh. I'm so ready to get well.

In happier news, I went to the travel agency around the corner from my office yesterday to see what could be done about getting Matt and I to Chicago for Thanksgiving. Since we're taking Penny, we want to do this in a single flight, instead of having to pick up a connection in Charlotte or Philadelphia like we usually do.

In the past, when we've looked into doing a single flight strictly for our own convenience, it's always turned out to be far more expensive. Don't ask me why. I don't make these things up.

But protecting Penny from any more weird pressure-adjustments than absolutely necessary (and ourselves from potential fussiness due to pressure-adjustments) was high on the list of priorities. So I went in there braced for a somewhat expensive trip.

Much to my surprise, after a little date-juggling, the travel agent managed to get us tickets for only about $200 each. All the flights are leaving at reasonable times of day, even considering that there's an hour commute from our house to the airport in Richmond, and from O'Hare to wherever we end up staying in (well, just outside of) Chicago.

There was an additional $20-per-ticket fee to the travel agency (apparently the airlines aren't paying commissions anymore) that I was, quite honestly, happy to pay. And since Penny will be making the trip on our laps instead of in her own seat, she didn't need a ticket.

So it's settled, because I've already bought the tickets and they're non-refundable. We're flying to Chicago for five days at Thanksgiving.

With a three-month-old.

We should probably start praying now.

--Liz