July 28th, 1978: The reluctant sleeper

It was over 100 degrees again today, and our house stayed HOT.  

Petey had trouble sleeping tonight.  He had a quick bath because he said he was so tired, and went to sleep with the sheet over him because he said he was cold.  He woke up about an hour later, shouting "Mommy! Mommy!".  I went in to see what was wrong and he asked me for a drink and a story.  I took him a glass of milk and read him Alfalfa Hill (very soothing, since it was about the coming of snow to the hill).  He said he was frightened but didn't remember why.  He settled down again, but shortly he drifted into the kitchen.  "I had my eyes shut but it didn't work...I couldn't sleep."  He sat on my lap and I rocked him.  Then he had a glass of lemonade and went back to bed, saying, "come talk to me."  We talked about Luke Skywalker -whether Maria would find his doll in Los Angeles, and about the people on his "Star Wars" poster who had "eyes but no mouths and look like angels."  Then we talked about what angels look like ("I thought you knew, Mommy") and about what "neutral" means.  I sang to him, all the hymns about Jesus I could remember, including "Away In A Manger".  I thought he'd gone to sleep, but then he sat bolt upright in bed and demanded another glass of lemonade.  He drank that without stopping for breath and lay down again.  H gave me a "goodnight hug" and a "goodnight kiss" and we said the "goodnight words"; "Sweet Dreams!  Try to have a good night's sleep".  Then his eyes closed, his breathing was deep and regular and, finally, he was asleep.