Cole woke up in the middle of the night last night (my turn)--sleepy, disoriented, upset. Probably a bad dream. Everything was still in the crib. His blankie, his soothie, Lightning the horse, Wolfie the wolf, Stitch. These days, it's more likely that if he does wake up it's to play and everything has been thrown on the floor.
This was different. He just wanted some dad time in the chair before going back to sleep. That's fine. I put him back in his crib after only a couple minutes. He was calm, quiet, and closed his eyes. A marked turn from the days when he would scream for company at 2am. Even different than his staying up to play by himself...those nights have gotten fewer and fewer.
Every once in awhile one of them gets us up still. Last week it was that Leda waited until the middle of the night to poop so that a quick in-the-dark diaper change for Kelly turned into "oops, messy, turn the lights on" which then meant if Leda was up you might as well feed her.
That's rare. Almost from the time she was a couple months old, Leda has gotten swaddled then slept 9 hours until morning. The opposite of her brother, as usual. Though she's gotten a bit more feisty...we've taken her out of the "nest" we had her in to transition her into sleeping in the play yard. Now she gets free range rolling and we'll wake up to find her backwards or in the corner.
But it's currently 8am here and Cole is still asleep. He took a 3.5 hour nap yesterday in the middle of the day. For some kids, sleeping is a skill they have to work on and apparently he's finding his way.
It's to the point where Kelly and I sometimes forget which one of us is on duty. My night? Your night? Who gets to take the dog out then if we can't decide? Instead, the parenting is shifting towards something different.
Even with tiny Leda...she plays by herself on the floor more. She takes fewer naps. In the stroller, she grabs the sides and sits up watching the world go by. Cole has become more interactive even if the words aren't flying out of his mouth. His vocabulary and comprehension are outstanding, however, and he's gotten good at instructions, talking about things that aren't directly in the room, understanding possession--even if maybe not sharing. Last night, just before bed we did a round of naming body parts with him pointing to mine, his, and his sister. Toes, ears, fingers, nothing gets by him.
At one point, he was politely eating his oatmeal for dinner when I seemed upset...strangely, it was Leda being fussy and I was talking to her in tones usually reserved for him. He was confused, then amused that for once it was his sister. Though he's shown amazing compassion for her in other ways. The instant she wakes up, he runs over to her and expects me to get her out.
This was different. He just wanted some dad time in the chair before going back to sleep. That's fine. I put him back in his crib after only a couple minutes. He was calm, quiet, and closed his eyes. A marked turn from the days when he would scream for company at 2am. Even different than his staying up to play by himself...those nights have gotten fewer and fewer.
Every once in awhile one of them gets us up still. Last week it was that Leda waited until the middle of the night to poop so that a quick in-the-dark diaper change for Kelly turned into "oops, messy, turn the lights on" which then meant if Leda was up you might as well feed her.
That's rare. Almost from the time she was a couple months old, Leda has gotten swaddled then slept 9 hours until morning. The opposite of her brother, as usual. Though she's gotten a bit more feisty...we've taken her out of the "nest" we had her in to transition her into sleeping in the play yard. Now she gets free range rolling and we'll wake up to find her backwards or in the corner.
But it's currently 8am here and Cole is still asleep. He took a 3.5 hour nap yesterday in the middle of the day. For some kids, sleeping is a skill they have to work on and apparently he's finding his way.
It's to the point where Kelly and I sometimes forget which one of us is on duty. My night? Your night? Who gets to take the dog out then if we can't decide? Instead, the parenting is shifting towards something different.
Even with tiny Leda...she plays by herself on the floor more. She takes fewer naps. In the stroller, she grabs the sides and sits up watching the world go by. Cole has become more interactive even if the words aren't flying out of his mouth. His vocabulary and comprehension are outstanding, however, and he's gotten good at instructions, talking about things that aren't directly in the room, understanding possession--even if maybe not sharing. Last night, just before bed we did a round of naming body parts with him pointing to mine, his, and his sister. Toes, ears, fingers, nothing gets by him.
At one point, he was politely eating his oatmeal for dinner when I seemed upset...strangely, it was Leda being fussy and I was talking to her in tones usually reserved for him. He was confused, then amused that for once it was his sister. Though he's shown amazing compassion for her in other ways. The instant she wakes up, he runs over to her and expects me to get her out.