Bedtime

I feel that every time Violet cries, we are holding our breath wondering, "Is this colic?" She typically sleeps a lot during the day, but then right around 7 or 8 in the evening, she'll wake up. This, of course, coincides with the start of Jack's bedtime routine. It's like these kids are tag-teaming us already. But another part of me wonders if that she's so used to all the racket that Jack makes while she's asleep during the day that she wakes up at night because it's too quiet.

This evening, she was not a happy baby. I think the gas pains were really getting to her, and she would not be soothed. She cried and cried - loudly. She was crying when it was time for me to sing Jack his lullabies. I tried to have her in the room with us so that I could hold her and sing to him, but she was wailing so loudly. Jack covered his ears with his hands and yelled, "Baby's too loud! I can't sleep!"

I put her down on the bed in our room, closed the door, and went back to Jack's room. We could still hear her.

"Mommy, Baby's crying!" he said. "Pick her up."

I told him that if I went to go get her, she would be noisy in his room and he wouldn't be able to sleep. I started to sing his bedtime songs.

"Sing faster," he said, "so you can get Baby."

I sped it up a little bit.

"Sing even faster," he urged.

By the way, Tom's function during the lullabies is to just sit on the floor by Jack's bed. Often, he is required to pat Jack on the back. Strangely enough, Tom's presence during the bedtime routine is more essential than mine. Tom can occasionally take over for me on lullaby duty, but I can never take over for Tom on patting or just-sitting-there duty.

I thought it was funny that Jack was so concerned about his baby that he wanted me to get through the songs as quickly as possible so I could go back to comfort her, but not concerned enough to let me forgo the songs altogether or to let Tom go in and pick her up.