Welcome to the Jungle

We finally did it.  We kicked Adam out and sent him into the wild: his brother's room.  It was time.  Adam had been staying in our room, sleeping in a Pack-n-Play bassinet next to our bed.  He quickly made himself at home, flinging his clothes around the room, eating in bed, and making obscene noises at night.  I tolerated it at first, but soon there wasn't room enough for the three of us: Adam had outgrown the bassinet.  It would arch down, struggling to hold Adam every time we put him in it.  It looked as if the bottom could give out at any time.  Adam was uncomfortable, too, and he would wiggle around just to find a spot suitable enough for sleeping.  Sure, leaving him in the bassinet this long might have caused some strain on his spine, but it's nothing that a little time in military school couldn't fix.  Fortunately he's now in a real crib, but it's inside the Crazy Room.

Adam had spent three months sleeping in our room.  We didn't mean for it to last this long.  When Kyle was born, he stayed with us for just three weeks and then we moved him into his own room.  But Kyle's room was, at the time, empty.  That's not the case now.  Kyle is still in our second room, and our place does not have a third bedroom.  The kids have to be roommates. 

We tried the roommate concept once during a summer weekend at my parents' place.  It did not go well.  Whenever Adam made the slightest noise, Kyle would wake up and call out to us until we showed up, often making enough noise to bring Adam to a full cry.  Then Kyle would start impersonating Adam, screaming loudly whenever he wanted us, usually at bedtime or in the middle of the night.  This continued for a week after the visit to my parents' place, long after we decided to move Adam back into our room.  It was a rough time, culminating with me, in my nighttime fog, threatening to give our very picky son orange juice just to shut him up (sometimes torture is justified).  But when I shook the juice, the cap wasn't on fully, and it spilled all over the floor.  I then fumbled in the darkness for a paper towel and slipped.  My feet flew into the air and I crashed onto the floor, landing on my arm.  I was sore for the next few days, and the floors were sticky until we moved out.  Kyle's scheme worked, and he was able to keep his own room all to himself for the rest of the summer.

These days Adam is making fewer noises at night, and he often sleeps past 6 am.  So, we thought it was safe to try it again.  Kyle is very excited this time around.  Each night we put him to bed before Adam, as his younger brother usually receives one more feeding before lights-out.  But Kyle doesn't want to miss out on his company, so he's often still awake when we put Adam in the crib.  We've heard a little talking between the two of them, but nothing lasting too long.  Sometimes Kyle makes animal noises, too, but most times the kids are too tired, after a busy day of playing and working at the factory.  We'll appreciate it while we can, since we know someday it'll be hard to keep them quiet, especially once they master throwing things.  I'm just glad it won't be in our room.

(Side note: yes, we painted the kids' room the same color as their room at our old place.  We wanted to give them something familiar when they moved in.  In the same spirit, I also shut down the power whenever we run the microwave and the air conditioner at the same time, especially on very hot days.  You could say I'm a nostalgic man.)