Good night my angels

I want to remember every second of the boys lives and all the special times and am so fearful the memories and feelings will escape me somehow. Thus I blog. Tonight started the same as every night and it was somewhere around the middle when I realized how much I treasured the routine. Bath time with the boys..splashing in the tub, playing with their finger puppets. Then we do some play time or watch a short on TV. Then it is "night night" time and if we are not early enough for him, Jason will come get my hand and tell me it is night night time. He loves his sleep.

After we gather our babies (lovies, stuffed animals, whatever), we head upstairs and pick our reading material and brush our teeth. We all gather in Jason's room for story time and we read 3 - 4 books depending on size. Then we set the rooms up...constellation night lights, music (classical for JT, Dixie Chicks for E), white noise generators, and more. Jason does inventory of his passys and Ethan counts every single baby (and there are a lot of them). He piles them all up underneath him and lays on them. Believe it or not, he will miss even one of the brood. Try washing these things....story for another time that will detail my CIA ops skills. Jason grabs all 3 passys and keeps alternating the one he is using as the mood strikes him. It is always a challenge finding all of them since he throws them across the room in the morning as he awaits his crib rescue team.

Then we divide and conquer. Tonight I took Jason first. We lay on the bed in his room and cuddle....eskimo kisses, butterfly kisses, hugs with big strong arms and good grunting noises. I ask if he played outside and he says "ahh ya" and if he liked school today and he says "ahh ya". Great conversationalist. We snuggle for a bit more and then I tell him it is time to go in the crib. I pick him up (along with all passys and Neigh - his horse) and head to the crib. After depositing the loot, I take him for a spin around the room to his music. We hum along and do spins and dips. He giggles and says "more dip" or "turn more" as we stop spinning. If I stop singing he says "more song". I then dip once more and put him in his crib. We have it made like a toddler bed now that he is older and I tuck him under the covers with Neigh, Teddy and Dog and....don't forget...the 3 passys...one in each fist and one in the mouth. Then I reach in for "mo hugs" or "mo kisses" and try to sneak out. Some nights, like tonight, he puts his hands through the crib slats points at the floor and says "sit." When I comply, he says "hand" and proceeds to take my hand in his and cuddle. I remember stories my Mom told me of how they did this for me when I was a baby. It strikes me as so funny.

Then, I make my escape....usually with a few whimpers and an explanation of how tired I am and how I am going to go to bed too...ahh right. A few more hugs as he lays there (reaching into the crib qualifies as gymnastics at this point since he finally laying down), one more tuck and head for the door.

At this point, we pull the swap. Jeff heads in to say good night to Jason if he is still up (at times we get lucky), and I head into Ethan's room where he tries to convince me to "lay with me" and Jeff gets up from the bed and I take his place. Then, a serious look on his face he asks me, "And how was your day Mommy? Was it stressful?" and we banter back and forth on our happenings. Most nights we make a tent with the covers and I steal a baby or two to see if he notices. He always does. "Stole more Mommy, " he says when he wants me to hide another one for him to find. Getting out of his room is much harder and I know he will be up 4 - 6 times after I leave. He rubs my hair, we hold hands, we sing and every night when I go to leave, he begs me to stay. Tonight he also infomed his Daddy that he was not to leave town. Daddy is due to go away for one night and E is having none of that. I thoght is was cute but of course, I find most things cute. Except screaming and temper tantrums...still not over those. :-)