Penny and I spent the day of Christmas Eve at my parents' house, then went home around dinnertime. "Now, little girl," I told her as I was carrying her upstairs to bed, "you're going to give Mommy and Daddy a Christmas present and sleep right through the night, right?"

It seemed a bit much to ask for, though, so I contented myself with the fact that she let me put her to bed without a fight, and went to bed myself after half an hour.

Around 2:00, I woke up to the sound of silence. I'm mostly but not entirely over wondering if she's still breathing in the middle of the night. I was just about to get up and check on her when she coughed, so I knew she was still alive. I snuggled back down into my pillows and went back to sleep.

At 5:00, I woke up again. Holy cow, she actually did it! I did a little mental dance of joy. And then - because my body has adjusted to only getting about seven non-consecutive hours of sleep a night, I couldn't go back to sleep. It was really nice to lie in bed and just relax for a while.

In fact, Penny slept until nearly 7:00 Christmas morning. I'd just about made up my mind to go and wake her up anyway when she finally started talking to herself. She didn't even wake up hungry-fussy; she babbled to herself and grinned toothlessly at me while I changed her diaper before taking her downstairs for breakfast.

I told everyone at my parents' house about our own little Christmas Miracle. "Maybe she'll do it again tonight!" they said. "Sure," said Matt. "A Boxing Day gift for Mommy and Daddy."

Well, between the house being so very warm (they've got the heat cranked for my grandmother, who's adapted to Texas weather) and the overstimulation of seven people all talking at once, Penny spent half of Christmas day sleeping. Which was great, because she slept through most of the meals, so we all got hot food - but then when we got her home, she was Wide Awake. Not fussy. In an extremely happy mood, actually. Just Not Tired.

Finally, finally, around 10:15, I got her in her crib and dozing. I immediately collapsed into bed - no telling but that she might decide to wake up again around midnight.

Around 2:30, Penny woke up and started crying. Matt and I got up. Matt made it as far as our bedroom door before she fell quiet again. Matt looked at me. I shrugged. "If she's not fussing..."

Matt came back to bed. We waited with bated breath for another few minutes, but no more sound issued from the baby monitor, and we quickly dropped back off to sleep.

Just a few minutes before 6, she started fussing. She did it again!

Alas, three was not our lucky number, and the next night she reverted to her usual pattern.

But Christmas Eve and Christmas night, she slept. Our very own little Christmas Angel.