Friday, October 2, 2009

Where's Preston?

Preston is getting to be so much fun lately. I need to start writing down some of the things he's saying now that he's actually getting to be quite the little chatter box. Two is one of my favorite ages, but it does have its challenges. Preston has always been a pretty content child and as such, he's been more quiet than Dylan. He can play by himself and I rarely hear from him. Because of that, I've gotten used to the quiet that comes with Preston. But this quiet is not all good. I have realized that quiet can mean a few things. 1. A content child playing nicely by himself. 2. Mischief - things dumped, poured, spilled or broken. Some sort of tornado of chaos that has made its way through the entire house. 3. Preston has actually disappeared. This is the one that causes me the most concern. The kid will actually just take off and I have no idea that he is gone. A few months ago, I put him down for a nap and got busy working in the basement. When I went upstairs, the back door was open. (This was back when Dylan was still in preschool and gone during this time). Yep, my good little napper had decided he didn't need a nap and let himself out to play in the sandbox. Ever since then, I have been locking his door when he takes a nap. I know it sounds barbaric, but it's the only way I can make sure he stays put during his nap. I have a monitor on so I can hear him if he needs me. The past month or so he's been really fighting naps, but he still seems to need them (and heaven knows I do) so I put him in there and let him wander around and pick which bed he wants and read his little books or whatever. A few times I came back to a sleeping child on the floor and piles of diapers and wipes all over the room, not to mention clothes. Once I came in and found his wet diaper on the ground. He was curled up on his bed with extra shirts on he had found in the closet and had peed all over his bed and the extra clothing. After a few days of time outs, the destruction during nap time seems to have tapered off a bit. Now the main question is where am I going to find the kid. Before we put the crib away, I would make nap time more appealing by telling Preston he could sleep in Dylan's bed. Now he still wants to sleep in Dylan's bed for his naps...but he doesn't stay there long. He drags Dylan's comforter with him all over the room and ends up in the weirdest places. Here are a few of the odd places I have found him recently when I needed to wake him up early from a nap.


Inside the clothes closet (with Dylan's comforter)

One day I walked into the bedroom and all I saw was the comforter next to the fire truck bed on the ground. I went to the front of the bed and sure enough...

Preston was sound asleep under the bed.

There are his feet after I pulled the comforter away from the bed. Keep in mind that the bed is really low to the ground so there was probably only an inch or two above his head. When I pulled him out from under the bed, he was pretty sweaty. Poor kid! I wish he would just stay put!

The other day, the kids were playing in the backyard. I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready when the doorbell rang. It was Dylan. He said, "Mom, your baby's on the loose." I guess the fence wasn't completely shut and Preston was running down the sidewalk looking for a friend to play with. I swear I really am a decent mom. My kids are just really busy and completely CRAZY!

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