Whack-A-Mole Kids

Sometimes I feel like in having the boys, I gave birth to a couple of whack-a-moles.  As soon as we take care of a problem with one, the other one pops up with the same problem.

I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing how Michael gets up at 0-dawn-hundred (or earlier) every morning.  What I probably haven't shared, is that at least 2/3 of the time, Leon gets up then too.  Michael is not a quiet guy in the morning.

When we take walks in the morning, Leon is always half slumped in the wagon looking very much like he could use that first pot of coffee of the morning.  His eyes are baggy, his hair is crazy.  He sits up slightly and smiles when we say hi to a cat on the next street, but he stays pretty quiet.  Little did I know, he really loves this time.

Suddenly, mercifully, Michael started sleeping a little later this week.  I think he is worn out from my parents' visit.  Or maybe he has just had enough fun during the day lately that he doesn't feel the need to start it in the wee hours of the morning.  Whatever the cause, he slept until 6:40 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  For him, this is huge.

However, by the third day, Leon realized they had been missing out on the morning "fun."  His sibling alarm clock wasn't waking him up, so at 5:00 Thursday morning he woke up crying.  I got him up, and he pointed to his bedroom door, indicating he wanted to go out.  He likes to drink cold water from the fridge, and I figured that's what he wanted.  I carried him to the kitchen, and when we got there he pointed to the garage door and said, "Go!  Go!"  I told him, no, we wouldn't be going anywhere yet.  The sun was still sleeping.  Defeated, he sat with me for a few minutes on the couch before asking to be tucked back in to bed.

This morning he got up at 4:00 and we went through the same routine.  It was actually a little cool in the house (by "cool" I mean not blazing hot), so when I took him back to bed, I tucked him in with one of his blankets.  At 5:15 he got up, gave me a big hug and told me he was "Done!" sleeping.  (Unlike his brother, at least Leon tries to kiss up by hugging and cuddling.)  This time I took his quilt, which is heavier than the afghan he drags around, and we cuddled under it on the couch.  I tucked him around him when I put him back in his bed.  He was finally warm and cozy and slept right through Michael's moans at 6:15.