The Bond of Brotherhood

In my world, anything that happens before 9am is a bit of a fog and it can be argued, by me of course, that nothing actually happens until after this time. Normally, the boys wake up sometime between 7 and 7:30 in the morning and if I'm lucky, more like 8. This is still WAY too early for some of us, but at least almost manageable. This past week, the munchkins have been rousing themselves around 6:30 to 6:45 am and this has been completely unacceptable. Papa Bear claims that he hasn't been making too much noise and that they are waking before he, but the powers that be, namely me, have a hunch that he is dispersing less than the truth, but what am I to do.

This morning, I woke up and noticed that it was 7:30 and was thrilled to have awoken on my own...not by some awful crying, screaming sound. What a treat! I took my earplugs out thinking to hear the kids the minute they stirred rather than waiting for one of them to start crying to get my attention...yes, it's a bit neglectful to wear earplugs, but I do need to be able to sleep with Papa Bear somehow. Anyway, as I pulled out the plugs I noticed something. A faint noise. Was that a giggle? Were those little voices? I lied in bed a minute to orient my ears to the sounds and realized, with delight and more than a little surprise, that the boys were whispering quietly and entertaining each other. HOLY MOLY!!!!

I probably should have stayed in bed enjoying this serendipitous treat but, alas, I am just too curious...nosy, whatever you want to call it. I slipped out of bed and tiptoed across the hall to check out what was going on, without disrupting the munchkins' repartee. I peeked my head in the door to see M, with ALL of his blankets, sitting in B's crib and the two of them were chatting away. M was asking B questions like, "Do you see that B? Is that funny? Do you want your blankey, baby?" To which B would just babble or giggle. It was so sweet and cute and I just wanted to preserve the moment forever. Unfortunately, all good things seem to come a quick and sudden end in this house. The boys noticed me and starting making all kinds of ruckus. "Mommy. Hi Mommy. Are you awake? Pick me up. I'm hungry. I want lunch." (We haven't quite gotten the different meals correctly identified as of yet.) "Mama mama mama mama." Of course, there was also the squealing, the jumping up and down and the loud, loud, loud demands.

The moment was over, but the sweet memory will remain.