Two of the Widest Smiles

Here's the morning routine via baby monitor.

If Zoe wakes up first, I will hear her playing for a long time. She kicks her feet on the wall, reads books, and I assume flops or walks around the crib. Eventually, if Ian does not wake up when she expects, she will start yelling at him. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Dabee dabbeee aaaaaaaaaaah." Next, Ian wakes up and they start making noises back and forth to each other. Or, Ian says, "No, Zoe don't talk to me, I reading a book." He is quiet for a few moments, and then starts laughing at his sister, who still continues to yell at him from her crib, waiting on an acknowledgment.

When Ian wakes up first, he reads books for a few minutes (sometimes longer, depending on his mood), and then starts asking, "Zoe, you awake?" Not having much patience for such things, he will immediately start yelling at her to wake up. "Zoe! Time to wake up! Zoe! Wake up!" It usually doesn't take very long. I hear her rustling around, and then hear bouncing up and down (her good morning happy dance on the side of the crib). "Hi! Hi!" she says. Then, they begin their conversations and plans for the day.

I'm going to add at this point, that I will never regret keeping them in the room together. Their morning time together is something I look forward to hearing every day, and I know it means the same to them. If one or the other wakes up unusually early, I do come and get the alert party so the other can continue to sleep. It doesn't happen very often, they naturally wake up at about the same time.

Another added benefit is another 10 minutes of "snooze" in the mornings at least (often a lot longer). They entertain each other while mommy rolls over and sleeps those precious extra minutes.

This morning, over the monitor, I hear a new sound in the morning routine. Thud. Thud. I didn't think too much of it. Zoe was probably bouncing or kicked the wall...otherwise, there were all happy noises and laughing. All is well and normal.

When I went in to greet them, Zoe was bouncing in her crib as usual, saying, "Hi! Hi!" with the widest smile on her face. She looked purely radiant. And right there, in the crib to her right, was radiant brother Ian, with the widest smile on his face, bouncing right along. "Hi, MOMMY! Good morning!" I don't think I could ask for more. :)