And God Invented Coffee...

Last night was a really, really longggggg night. The kids went to bed later than usual, because I had to teach a class. By regular rules, the baby should have been exhausted, and ready for bed, but as soon as we got home, they were both in the mood to party. I had removed the cover for the crib, and installed the toddler rail, since the baby kept escaping during the night. I figured better safe than concussed. The previous night, he spent all night climbing in, and out of bed. I also decided this would be a great time to get rid of the pacifiers once, and for all. (Yeah, I'm really smart). Oh and my husband's out of town, so it's the trifecta.

Anyway, I finally heard him go to bed around 10, thankfully big brother was behaving and exhausted, so he went to be and stayed there. After he finally fell asleep, I managed to wash the dishes, and clean the bathrooms. I finally showered and went to bed close to 1 AM. Around 2:15, I heard thudding, and realized one of the kids was going down the stairs. Then I heard the child go back upstairs, close the door, and get into bed. I texted my husband that one of his kids was roaming the house, and thought that was that. A few minutes later, I head the door open again and thud thud thud, down the stairs. It was the baby. Rookie mistake #1, when I went to make sure that he was in bed after the first bed time, I had left the door ajar. Rookie mistake #2, I left the hallway light downstairs on, so he was being a brazen little monkey, having his way around the house.

At this point, I was curious to see how long he could possibly keep up his shenanigans. I mean, he must have been exhausted from the night before, the terrible nap he took during the day, and the fact that it was 2 in the morning. I heard him go up and down the stairs several times, grabbing various items from the pantry, mostly candy. At one point, I realized he grabbed an Atomic Fire Ball, because he started panting heavily after he popped it in. I saw him spit it out, put it on the cabinet in the hallway, then grab a napkin and throw it away. At this point, he realized his hands were really sticky, and tried to wipe them, but didn't have any baby wipes, and so he ended up using an entire roll of toilet paper.

He would go into his room, turn on the light and the fan, and have imaginary conversations with his brother.  His brother would not respond, and he realized no one was going to get up and join the party. Then he would turn off the fan and light, close the door, and crawl into bed. Every time I thought he was done, I would hear the door open, yet again, and thud thud thud down the stairs. Every time, he would come back up with candy. Finally, I heard him close the gate to the kitchen, and hoped to God that he was outside, and not in the kitchen. Eventually I heard crying, and figured, he had trapped himself inside the kitchen. I went downstairs, took a picture of the literally red handed (and red mouthed) criminal, took a picture of the time, washed him up, turned off the hall way light, and climbed back up the stairs.  As I climbed back up in the darkness, I was hugged by my older son at the top of the stairs, which scared the crap out of me. He went back to bed, and so did I. The baby stood downstairs, crying for Mama for a good while. I thought it was funny that he was so independent this whole time, but once the lights were off, it was a total game changer.

I carried him up the stairs, and put him in bed. This time I closed the door so he couldn't get out. He cried for a good 20 minutes before he finally settled down and went back to bed. I couldn't believe it. At this point it was close to 5 AM. So this saga lasted for almost 3 hours. I'm hoping tonight will be better.  I'm definitely not leaving any lights on, or doors open, that's for sure. All I can say is thank God there's coffee. I'm about to start my day...