How cute was it one afternoon almost a month ago now when I was working in the kitchen. It was late afternoon and out walked Zachary fresh from his nap. Smiling ear to ear I could tell it was one of his proudest moments as if to say "Mom, see how big I have become, I have climbed out of my crib"! At least that is the first thought of admiration that came to my mind. Yes, indeed how cute! There were a couple of days that followed where I had to return him to his room about three times before he would actually fall asleep for his nap. Now THAT was annoying! Then, about a week and a half after his first escape David and I stopped counting after the ninth time of trying to keep him in his bed. It seems as though the monkey had escaped for good and there was nothing cute about it.
He isn't the most consistent sleeper. There is probably a year of unpublished blogs that I could post describing the ups and downs of the development of true 24 hour motherhood in my life (which oddly didn't start with the birth of my triplets, there was about a 7 month season but after that I returned to a fairly normal sleep pattern). The 24 hour motherhood I speak of started with chronic ear infections for Zachary. Having ear infections myself and being woken up by them in the middle of the night as a child, I can guarantee you that I refused to leave my then 7 month baby in bed to scream through the pain by himself. That was over a year ago. At almost 22 months there are nights I know that there is no pain involved, he just doesn't want to sleep. He can be awake anywhere from 1 hour to 4 between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
As you probably realize at this point, with Zach's newly found talent of climbing out of his bed, 2 o'clock in the morning could be a dangerous time. I can't tell you the shock that awaited me in the wee hours of the morning on February 17th. Zach had woke up at around 11:30 p.m. I knew within just a few seconds of seeing him that we were in for a long night. Thankfully Ryan has goten good at sleeping through Zach's babbling and fussing so at about 2:00 a.m. I was determined to leave the room and let him play around til he fell asleep. I was SOOO tired! I fell into my bed and I can still hear myself chanting the prayer "please let him sleep, please let him sleep...". I must have chanted myself right to sleep. I heard him fussing when I laid him down followed by a little babbling but the next thing I knew I heard crying.
Frustrated I looked at the clock. OH! Wow, I did get some sleep! It was actually 3:56 a.m. Why is he awake again? I got up and was drawn to the bathroom. The door was closed. We don't close it because the night light helps all the little people find their way to the bathroom in the dark. The water was running! Hmmm. I wondered which of the five year olds was in there, they hardly remember to wash their hands in the daytime, and I have never seen it happen in the middle of the night! Upon opening the bathroom door, nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. There standing on the bathroom floor was Zachary. The water (hot and cold) were both on full blast, toothbrushes lay all over the counter (no doubt all having been tested). I could see where he had pushed aside the things on the counter and had actually been sitting up there. He was soaked from head to toe, water was puddled on the floor and all the bath towels (that hadn't been picked up by the 5 year olds the night before) were saturated. I stood there stunned.
Grabbing him (after turning off both faucets), I got him dried off and in new clean jammies. The whole time speechless and actually a little fearful for his life. He had stepped beyond what I thought he knew or would attempt at 21 months. It took a few minutes for it all to sink in. As I rocked him it wasn't even 3 minutes before he was out cold in my lap sleeping soundly, proof that while I had been sleeping soundly in sheer exhaustion (I usually hear every sound in the house at night - the "mommy curse"), he had went on a exploration of the bathroom. After I laid him down I went to investigate further (I was smelling a curious smell as we rocked). Sure enough I found the bathtub faucet (and shower) dripping and baby wash squeezed out all over the bottom of the bathtub. At least no one would fault him for not being clean!
So, what did this teach me as his mom? Well, first of all that I owe a few people an apology. If you have a child who wears you out and keeps you hopping and have told me about it, chances are before Zach I would have thought "oh good grief, its ONE KID, try having THREE at a time!" I can say that because of the way God made Zach, I have to work harder than I did with the triplets in some ways (not to mention being able to function 24 hours a day with very little down time). I am sorry for judging. I have also learned that I am blessed beyond measure for this curious little monkey! He has taught me so much (more than just patience). Although I sometimes say that cuteness is his saving quality, I am thankful that God has given me a picture of who Zachary can be as a boy, teenager, and young man. He has comforted me in the middle of the night with the fact that there are qualities here that although are quite difficult right now, will be a wonderful blessing to him and his whole family later. I also have a closer walk with God because I know that I alone can not get Zach successfully where he is going on my own.
What does that mean for me right now? Well, I can sleep when he leaves for college. And don't think that I am not going to be wiping tears when I send him out the door! He has already changed me in so many ways, as each of my five children have. What a blessing to be a mom, what a blessing to have a little monkey - and I thank God for crib tents!
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