Acknowledging the elephant

I try not to complain here, because 1) who wants to read that and 2) this is a record of our family, so why record stuff we'd rather not give more attention. But now we're at the point when I can no longer ignore the elephant in the room, because it is sitting on my head or at least trying very hard to keep balance in my lap. We are horribly sleep-deprived, Markus most of all. Two weeks ago, he had to go to India for four days (two days of flying for two days in the office). He came back midday Saturday, and we had great fun for the rest of the weekend despite his jetlag...but he was back at work on Monday for important meetings. Last week was a very busy week for him, so he didn't get any chance to rest and recoup, and then last Thursday, Ellie got a cold. You probably know by now that when Ellie gets a cold, it is the end of the world (and certainly sleep) as we know it. It was just a little cold, mind you. No fever, nothing extreme. Just a cough and a nose and some extra tiredness...but she cannot/will not nap. Every night since last Thursday, she has woken up many times a night wailing (usually because her nose is stuffy and makes her mad), and unfortunately the wailing continues off and on throughout the days (as an example, right now she's looking out the front curtains wailing "No Mama! Papa come get me! Get me! I need a tissue!" over and over since he's already gone to work and I have committed the sin of asking her to get dressed; the full tissue box is next to her feet). It's wearing us out in a serious way, again Markus most of all because although she wakes us both, she wants Papa to soothe her back to sleep. So often I have lamented baby Stephanie sleeping in the back part of the house instead of the front with the rest of us, but during stretches like these, I'm so thankful. She is the only one who is well-rested.