The Screamer

Be very thankful I could not find my camera.

I am almost obsessive about where the Twinsies spend the night. I know that if they stay up too late, they won't be able to handle the next day. One place they have never spent the night, well, until yesterday, was Grandma and Grandpa's house. There are just too many exciting people and too many exciting things going on for them to be able to go to sleep and stay asleep. If they are hanging out there, I am always careful to pick them up by 6 - 7 pm. It is never pretty if they are there too late.

Yesterday, however, Grandma offered to let Gracie and Luke spend the night. I have report cards to write (don't ask me if they are done) and I'm sick. On top of that, the Twinsies got immunizations at their Friday appointment and are sick, too, so times have been rather trying in our tiny apartment. I grabbed the chance to get some sleep and packed them up for a night with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma promised that she would not call unless there was an emergency and by 5 pm today, there were no phone calls.

When I got to their house this evening, about 6:15 pm or so, the first sound that greeted me was crying. Gracie crying. Lukie crying. They weren't crying for me, they were just crying. Grandma admitted they had been very sensitive all day, crying and upset, inconsolable at times. She'd managed to get them down for short naps, but they just wouldn't sleep.

That's when the screaming started. Gracie has been testing her vocal cords for the past few weeks, so I know she can scream. I wasn't prepared for the level of screaming that came from her tonight! Wow! She reached some decibels I thought only huge stereo systems could hit!

The screaming continued on the way home, but I had known from the moment I looked at them that the real culprit in their behavior that day was that they were both exhausted. Puffy eyelids and the inability to keep your eyes open are huge indicators that one is tired!

We made it through the bath, just barely, before the hitting and crying/screaming resumed. We got our jammies on, drank most of our milk, snuggled with Mommy and attempted to play. Luckily, I'm too smart for them now. I wrapped my arms around them and snuggled them to me. They were out in 15 minutes but I stayed for a while to make sure they were really out.

They may wake up. They may not. Maybe they are just so exhausted that they will sleep the night through. Either way, I need to record that scream. No one will ever believe it is coming from an 18 month old who stands 30.5 inches high!