Abe’s First Slumber Party

Last night I was awakened to Ozzie barking ferociously. I looked at the clock and it was almost midnight. I looked at Jake and he was asleep. I sort of froze there and thought, “Why is Ozzie barking?” I do believe the words, “Oh shit,” also came to my mind. Then the knocking began and I was totally freaked out, and I had to wake up Jake. I quickly looked out the window and realized that it was Jake's friend Ben.

Let me back up here. Ben’s wife Brooke is pregnant and due any day now. Earlier in the evening, Ben had called Jake and asked if she has to go the hospital in the evening or night, if their four-year-old son Jaxon could stay with us. Of course we said yes. Jake mentioned this to me before I went to bed.

Well, apparently that night is when Brooke needed to go the hospital. And because Jake tries to keep his phone as far away as possible, he didn’t hear it ringing, and for some reason, my phone was on “Silence” which it never is. Apparently Ben had called around 12 times on each of our phones. So, by the time he arrived at our house he just started knocking.

Anyways, after all of the groggy greetings, Ben brought in Jaxon. I decided that the best place to put him would be in Abe’s bed. In my head this was a great plan. He would be in a bed, he would be with Abe, his total BFF. Well, of course, as soon as laid him in there Abe was starting to wake up. I whispered to Abe, “Is it okay if Jaxon sleeps in your bed tonight.” Abe looked at me with his blanket in his mouth, and nodded, his eyes wide at this exciting development. I am not quite sure what was going through his head. I mean, he LOVES Jaxon. So, for Jaxon to just randomly show up in his bed at night must have been quite a thrill.

Well, as soon as Jaxon laid down (clad in Superman pjs, complete with the cape), and I walked away down the hall into our room, I realized that this may not have been the best plan, as far as sleep was concerned. (Minus Jake, because he can apparently sleep through someone trying to break into our house.) It wasn’t even thirty seconds that I heard the loud whispering and then Abe’s hearty giggle.

I walked back into the room to tell them that they needed to be quiet. The smart one -- Jaxon -- was pretending that he was asleep, but Abe -- the not so smart one --was just sitting up in the dark. Wedged between them like a barrier, was Abe’s Thomas pillow. (I wasn’t sure what that was all about, and I didn’t really get to ask, but just thought that was funny. Like, two seconds into their meeting they had already started building some sort of fort).

“You guys, it is time to go to bed,” I said.
“But Mama,” Abe whispered loudly, “Can Jaxon come downstairs and play with me?” I looked over at Jaxon and he was still pretending to be asleep.
“No, Abe, not right now. In the morning you can play. It is very late.”

Like an idiot I thought that would work. Not even five seconds after I laid down, I heard the giggling again. This time, I think both of them were giggling. I sort of hovered outside of Abe’s door to hear what was so funny.

“POOP!” Jaxon said.
Abe’s hearty giggling ensued.

Well, you got to give Jaxon some credit, he sure knew his audience.

So, finally, I made the executive decision to take Abe into bed with me. We all needed to sleep. Well, I needed to sleep. Eventually Abe was able to fall asleep, tiny toes digging into my leg, tiny body sprawled across my side of the bed. Ahh yes, it was a nice night of sleep indeed. So, at least we got the first slumber party out of the way. And note to self, either keep the boys separated, or move them far, far away from me so I can go to bed.