To sleep or not to sleep…

When Liam was Jack’s age, if he started crying you knew there was a purpose, a reason for the tears. He was truly hurt or sad or sometimes just plain tired, but almost never was he trying to manipulate a situation. Liam is very literal, just like his dad, which also makes him very honest – he has only recently learned to start lying about things and to cry to try and get his way. Jack, on the other hand, has the benefit of having an older sibling and has learned much sooner the ways of the world. He is trouble.

Because I know this about my little babykins, after I put him in bed, I pretty much ignore him until he goes to sleep. Sometimes this results in his still being awake 90 minutes after he was put in his crib, chattering to himself and/or kicking his wall through the crib bars. He will try to cry to get me to come into his room, but I’m no fool and I know a fake cry when I hear one. But if and when I hear a real cry, I will go in his room to check on him and almost always have to get his discarded pacifier off the floor because I know he has a hard time falling asleep without it. And almost always after this happens, he falls asleep within five minutes of my “resetting” him (as Simon and I call it).

The other night, he was up for a good bit and I had ignored the jabbering and half-hearted cries but then heard a very sad, weepy voice call out, “Paci? Paci, pwees, mommy! Paci all gone.” [Translation: Mommy, please come in here and get my pacifier off the floor so I can fall asleep.] But when I opened his bedroom door, he must not have been expecting me to come because he jumped up and quickly THREW the pacifier that was IN HIS MOUTH, onto the floor and innocently said, “Where paci go?” I had been had… I think we’ll be visiting the story of the boy who cried wolf, do you think a 2-year-old will understand the lesson he needs to learn? He certainly learned to play his mom like a fiddle.

It’s a good thing he’s cute.