Fifty Cents...

I still make Andy take a nap.

He's the only one. Sometimes the other boys will nap, but they are older so I almost always let them choose. Andy, however, melts into a puddle of whiny snotty tears at 5pm unless he gets to spend at least one hour unconscious.

To get Andy to sleep, I usually lay down with him. I know I shouldn't. I used to be able to send Nick to nap alone, and he would. But Nate was more stubborn, and he and Nick found out they could talk to each other and pinch each other for hours without sleeping, so I started staying with them thinking I would break them into it slowly.

Instead, when Andy was born I just started sleeping with them, or reading until everyone fell asleep and I could get up and do stuff. If I don't, they never settled down, and I appreciated the time to read or nap myself.

So now it's just Andy, and the other boys "play quietly."

I like resting with Andy. It gives us some time alone. And although most days I read him a book, some days, like today, we'll look at the computer a little.

Today we looked at the Bronx Zoo, and I told him that we might actually go there for April Vacation. I told him we might be able to ride a camel. He got excited. Then he asked if there were elephants. There are - and I told him so. But then I realized they were part of an exhibit that opened in May. April comes before May, and I told him I wasn't sure if they could be seen before May. "We'll have to see if they show the elephants before May," I said.

And then I realized that Andy's chin was trembling and tears were in his eyes. "But I want to see elephants!" he cried.

I told him we would keep going to zoos until we found some elephants.