James started to sleep through the night last month, and Heather and I were super excited about it. “REM sleep! Can you believe it, Heather? We might actually get some REM sleep!” Unfortunately, the good times were short-lived for all three of us. Teething soon hit James hard, and Heather and I have had to get up in the middle of the night to feed/comfort him.

I was a little out of practice the first night I got up with James and ended up being a little louder than usual: I nearly knocked over a stool in the darkened kitchen, then turned on the TV which blasted at a high volume until I fumbled to turn it down. It didn’t appear that I’d woken anyone – luckily – but after a few minutes I heard little feed padding into the family room.

“What’re you guys doing?”

Annie was standing in the doorway to the family room, rubbing her eyes.

“Go back to bed, Sweetie.”

Annie shuffled forward and sat on the couch.

“What’re you guys watching?”

pajamas
“I didn’t realize there was TV so late!”

Since I was in the middle of dealing with James, I told Annie to lean back on the couch and close her eyes (which she did). My hope was that she’d fall asleep, and then once I put James down I could come back and put her in bed, too. It didn’t quite work out that way, though. When James was ready to be put back down Annie opened her eyes and said, “Can I sleep with you and Mommy?”

“Uh, suuure,” I said.

It’d been a while since Annie last slept with us, so I figured it was okay, and it was pretty cute to see her shuffle into our bedroom carrying her princess pillow. The knees and elbows she put in my back as she turned in her sleep weren’t quite as cute, however.

The next night I had to get up with James I was gung-ho about not waking Annie. I crept around as quiet as a ninja, froze when a floor board creaked, and didn’t dare to turn on the TV. After ten minutes it appeared my quietude had worked, but then Annie padded into the room.

“You guys are out here again?”

“Yup. Again. Now go back to bed, sweetie.”

“It’s okay, Dad,” Annie said as she sat on the couch. “I’ll lean back and close my eyes.”  A few minutes later, when it was time to put James back to bed, Annie’s eyes again popped open.

“Can I sleep with you and mommy?”

“Uh, suuuure,” I said again.

So Annie has slept in our room a few nights of late. That’s not the biggest deal, but I’m a little worried that we’ll backslide on all of the hard work we did to get her comfortable sleeping in her own room. Here’s hoping I can find a way to be even quieter, or to convince Annie to stay in her own bed!