The Lord Giveth, and He Taketh Away.

Friday night was a big night for the Skis.

It was the first night that John Paul slept six hours in a row. 

Six glorious hours.  Jonathan and I both woke up with sore muscles from sleeping in one position for so long.  IT WAS THAT HEAVENLY.

And of course, as we were smugly laying in bed around 5:30 am, marveling at how good we felt after six amazing hours of unbroken sleep, we heard it.  The small thrilled little voice.

"Hi Mommy!"

That was NOT the voice of a sweet two-month-old who was far advanced for his age in linguistic ability.

It was the voice of our two-and-a-half year old.

WHO HAD JUST LEARNED HE COULD CLIMB OUT OF HIS CRIB AND WAS STANDING PROUDLY AT THE FOOT OF OUR BED.

Jonathan and I would have kept him in his crib until his 18th birthday or when he left for college, whichever came first.  The Wee Ski 1.0 can climb up anything -- John Paul's bassinette, the sofas, up into the 4runner, our "tractor" (aka the lawn mower) and Jonathan's "motor-tractor" (motorcycle) -- but because he still slept in a sleepsack and couldn't separate his legs wide enough to climb, he never knew that he was able to escape his crib.

And just like that, after 912 days of him waking up in the same exact place we put him down, life changed.  Each sleep or nap ends with his joy that he can get up and out on his own, and him running in, "Hi Mommy!  Hi Papa!  No more nap!" 

Thus endeth our sleeping until we want to go get him up.

Yesterday morning, he got up to look for us, and we heard him head right out the front door without even stopping in our room.  He must think we have wild parties in the yard while he's sleeping. Clearly.  All the fun happens when he has been trapped in his crib.  If only he knew that before he gets up, we get up and ride around the deck naked on our tricycles.

No wait, that's him. 


All of our neighbors just breathed a collective sigh of relief.


And God, we see your humor.  At least you gave us five minutes to feel like masters of the universe before crushing our sleeping-in dreams!