Katherine and Nathaniel have been trying to get out of sleeping recently, but they go about it in very different ways. Nathaniel turns on the charm, snuggling into his father’s lap, then back to his mother’s, and back to Sydney again, patting our faces gently and going through his full repertoire of animal sounds and words while gazing up with big eyes. Clearly he doesn’t want us to put him in his crib. I left him with Sydney (who had melted sufficiently to give the little guy a backrub to help him settle into sleep) so that I could settle Katherine in, but Sydney reported that, when I left, Nathaniel first tried calling me, “Mama, mama?” and then switched to my name, “Ewin? Ewin?” He’s apparently been listening to Katherine, who has tried out lots of names for us. Sydney also said that Nathaniel called out “Night, night” as Sydney left.
Katherine, meanwhile, has been talking at high volume when she is supposed to be sleeping. Sydney finally listened closely and figured out that she is apparently talking to her grandmothers. I’ve been calling both mothers recently, and I usually do so at high volume (Skype connection + small kid noises in the background), and Katherine has picked up on both elements. She was apparently reporting to her grandmothers the goings-on of her day: she fell down several times because she was tired. Yes, it is tempting to point out to her the irony of keeping yourself awake by recounting your sleep-deprivation-induced clumsiness, but I highly doubt she’d get the hint.
Erin
Alan Schmierer
The northern grandmother very likely feels similarly to the Midwest grandmother; we are both thrilled that Katherine remembers us! As for little heart-breaker Nathaniel, his night-time comfort habits are endearing, and I am sure they are not a ploy to avoid being put to bed!