Today was Milo’s second day of school and it couldn’t have gone better… well, what could have gone better was a full night of sleep, but more on that later. The car ride there was, “We’re goin’ to my school,” and “Oh, there it is!” and as we got closer, “Mommy’s gonna leave. Mommy always comes back. I no cry.” All stated just very matter-of-factly, as if he had been rehearsing what would happen and how he would react for the past 48 hours. Funny, there were no tears shed on the first or second day of school, yet Milo still talked about crying. The only other two-year-old, a little girl named Zara, apparently cried, and Milo comforted her. My sweet boy.
He came running back out of the red doors when pick-up time came three hours later, under the bright blue scarf of his teacher Ms. Dale, completely masked by the soft fabric until ta-da! his beaming face appeared, cat in one hand, crumpled up paintings in the other, into my arms smelling faintly of another woman. “Goodbye friend,” he said to Ms. Dale.
Happy. He was genuinely happy, and I thought, “that is why we are doing this.”
Now whatever is causing these new nighttime wake-ups is still to be discovered. Maybe it’s the change of seasons. Maybe being a big brother is finally sinking in. Whatever it is, we will work through it (not quite my attitude during last night’s hour-long screaming session, but still, we will get through it). However, the “use your words” phrase has backfired:
“I want to get out!”
“I need to go pee-pee!”
“I need to poo-poo!”
“I want my apple juice!”
“I need milk!”
“I need to go potty!”
“I want my blanket on!”
“I want my fan on!”
“I need to rock a little!”
“I want to rock in the rocking chair a little!”
“MooooMEEEEEEEEE!”
“I want out of here!”
“I need diaper change!”
“I watch video!”
“I want snack!”
“DaaaaaadddDEEEEEEE!”
“I wanna see Oliver!”
“I need to get out!”
Cripe. I swear to you, every excuse he could think of. I went in there once to make sure his pajamas were dry, changed his diaper, and let him sit on the potty before swinging him back over the side of his crib (NOW do you see why he is still in a crib, people?!) and letting him scream like a banshee. Extremely stressful, somewhat annoying, and slightly amusing to hear the creative excuses he conjured up between screams. Andrew somehow got him back to sleep at around 4:15, as Oliver lay dreaming beside me, curled up against my chest, breathing heavily. Oh my word.
And we want another one. Someday.
The school story sounds familiar, but fortuntely not the nightime nightmares. Bless your heart! The girls will stall with drinks and potty breaks, but by 8pm the are sound asleep without a peep until after 6am. 7am would be better but after hearing your horror I will take what I can get, plus it get me into the office earlier, so that I can be out by 4pm.
So glad to hear Milo loves his school. He now knows that Mommy will indeed return, and still love him! I remember hearing you, Lauren, asking for many different things before going to bed, and Dad and I would have to stifle our laughter so you wouldn’t hear. And, oh boy, if we went into your room trying to hide a smile, you would be really upset about it – I mean, how could we possibly think that what was going on could be funny? It doesn’t seem so long ago….
When can we babysit???
crumbum-sit i mean
You are killing me lately with these posts. They’re so awesome. You really are a great writer and even though you’re just a metro ride away, it’s nice to be able to feel like we know what’s going on in your all’s lives.
I’m so glad Milo is enjoying his time at school and I hope regular sleep returns soon. Can’t wait to see you all soon.
Jack is doing the same thing at night (just recently)! Our babysitter also said the same thing about her son this week – I am banking on the “change of seasons” reason. It gives me hope – maybe it will be over soon??
I am also regretting my wish that Jack would start asking instead of crying for what he wants – now everytime he gets in the stroller it is “UUUUPPPP!!!” From the back of the house this morning I heard Jon – “Jack come here”….Jack’s response “NOway!” 🙂 And then there is the 500 times a day question “whaaatsdis?!” Cute – but what a change!! Doesn’t a sweet “pees” and “thankyou” make up for it all though?!
We miss you guys – can’t wait to see Oliver and Milo. Jack got his first hair cut today and my mom says he looks like Milo!