My Bed Time Adventurer

Emma has always had her own nighttime schedule. Ever since she was born, her sleep schedule has been cyclical. For weeks on end she would sleep through the night, then for a week or two she would wake up once or more a night. Then for a week or so she didn't want to go to bed at her normal time and would cause a ruckus in her room (when she was still confined to a crib) or she would creep around the corner and show herself and spend an hour or two extra with mom and dad.

This ritual of hers has not changed. There are nights we hear "goings on" from back there. Some nights we look; other nights we don't. There is a gate in the hallway to keep the kids from coming out into the main part of the house. I'm afraid of one of the kids waking up and wandering outside or getting hurt.

Some nights Emma is found sleeping at the gate - a failed attempt at getting our attention to come and have snack time with daddy. Other nights, she has spent time "beautifying" her surroundings. She has taken special care to share animals and toys with sleeping Lucy. She has surrounded herself with animals, as well as belts, sticks and other various objects. She sleeps with socks on her hands, although it's not because it's cold outside.

Some of it I understand. The toys make her feel safe. The socks, I guess they keep her warm; although most nights I find her sweating profusely in her sleep, no blanket included. The poking devices are there for protection from prowlers or monsters.

Lately though, I can't figure out what the correlation is. A few weeks ago, I heard a soft banging noise coming from "back there". I looked at Ben and he just kind of shrugged it off. I went to the bathroom and checked on the kids. Whenever Emma's door is closed over, I know I'll find something has happened behind there. When I open the door, I find Emma kneeling before a box. She is "hanging" diaper wipes on the box. I am a little confused, but tell Emma it is bed time and she moves to her bed. As I walk out of the room, I notice diaper wipes stuck to the wall, in a nice straight line. I guess she was decorating and that's what all that banging was =)

There have been a few more incidences with wipes. Most nights it seems as though she was swimming with them in her bed. As I mentioned earlier, she is a sweaty sleeper. Maybe she is trying to cool herself down....

I know what she's doing makes sense to her and that's ok with me. I hope she hangs on to that innocence and need for exploration as long as she can. I miss those days...

Barack Obama for President - by Jesse

So about a month ago Jesse was home sick from school. He was catching up on daytime TV when a commercial came on. It was an ad for Barack Obama. He came over to me and said something. I didn't catch what he said, so I asked him to repeat himself. He was hesitant, but finally blurted out "If I could vote, I'd vote for Arack Abama." I was a bit surprised. We don't talk about politics much, especially not around the kids. I guess I just wasn't expecting that to come out of a 6 year olds mouth. So the conversation continued.

Me - Oh yeah, well why would you choose him to be the president?
Jesse - "because I can"! - A little taken aback
Me - I know you can choose whoever you want to but WHY would you choose him?
Jesse - he talks nice.

And there you have it. Is that how YOU made your decision on who to vote for?