2:43am

this is what time i get shaken awake by my girl.

shake. "psst. mama." shake. "are you awake?"

well, I am now!

so i ask her what's wrong and she says there's a noise in her room.

i go in there and hear nothing but her wall clock ticking.

i ask her if that's the noise she hears. no.

i listen intently, half asleep.

"you hear that, mama?"

what in the world is she talking about? i think she's dreaming or imagining things.

then i realize - she's talking about the croaking of the frogs outside.

i tell her it's just frogs and to go back to bed.

she says to me, "don't they know i'm trying to sleep?"

oh, she's so my girl. i just love her so much.

so i tuck her in and get her pink puppy to snuggle.

as she's falling back to sleep, she says sleepily, "mama, those can't be frogs...they aren't saying ribbit."

oh, my girl.