Doomed

The other morning, after listening to the boys play more or less quietly for twenty minutes, I pulled myself out of bed and stepped into the hallway to find Andrew standing there, smiling at me. It actually took me a few moments to realize what was wrong. Andrew. Standing. Out of his crib.

Oh, bother.

The next few mornings were also quiet, but Andrew would stand and cry in his crib after nap, and I witnessed Nathan trying to "help" him by boosting him. So I decided that it probably required a collaborative effort at this stage.

And today, as I was sitting with Nathan at nap, which I am required to do if I expect him to fall asleep at all, we all heard a "Mama!" as Andrew burst into the room and launched himself at Nathan's bed.

What ensued was hilarity, at least according to Nick and Nate and Andrew. They laughed for twenty minutes as I kept returning Andy to his crib only to have him follow me into the boys room seconds later. I grew more and more frustrated. But there are more of them than there are of me.

Putting them to bed tonight seemed to go smoothly. Nick hadn't napped (he's five, what can you do?) so he fell asleep as I read bedtime books. I placed Andy in his crib and he stayed there, and Nathan babbled on and on. Fifteen minutes later I was speaking on the phone when Andrew simply walked in and climbed into my bed.

What followed was a true battle - Andrew screamed and kept climbing out of bed, and I kept walking in and tucking him back in, and Nathan provided background music and occasional commentary.

Eventually Andy went to sleep. But given his recent habit for waking up and screaming in the middle of the night, I expect to do battle again before dawn.

Oh, boy. Now I'm really in trouble.