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Our bike ride to Effie Yeaw Nature Center at Ancil Hoffman Park this morning was 18 miles round trip.  If you haven't been there yet, now is the time to visit.  Lucas and Brodie napped on the way there, and on the way back home.  They loved looking at the snakes which were at their eye level.  They had to look up high to see the turtle, opossum and owl, but once they figured out they were there, they were very curious.  Lucas, Brodie, and their little friends that joined us at the Nature Center, also under 2 years old, were hissing, hoo hooing, and naming everything they knew names for.  They all climbed through the fox tunnel, but only one of them was brave enough to touch the Salmon.  Pressing the buttons on all the exhibits, which turned lights on and off, told stories, or made various bird and animal sounds were their favorite.  Outside in the nature area, they found sticks, leaves, rocks, seed pods, climbed into flower gardens, and rock gardens.  Everything was at their level, and it was a safe place to let them explore.  We'll definitely return for another visit soon.   

Lucas and Brodie had been playing in the sprinkler in the back yard, and were all wet.  So when Lucas asked me to take off his shirt, I agreed.  After he slide down the slide, and landed on his butt, I took his diaper off.  He was completely naked, and loving it, as he ran around the yard. 

All of a sudden Lucas stopped, squatted down in the rocks, and peed.  He put his hand in the stream of pee, out of curiosity. 

A few minutes later, when Lucas asked me to pick him up, I didn't think twice.  I picked him up, and he wrapped his legs and arms around me tight.  We sat there silently for awhile watching Brodie play.  Then Lucas said, "tree", a couple of times.  At least that is what I thought he said.  I knew I was wrong, when I felt water soaking into my pants and shirt.  Lucas had said, "pee", letting me know before he emptied his entire bladder all over me.  I just laughed.  I was so wet, I felt like I had peed my pants. 

Lucas and Brodie woke up sticky and sandy from eating watermelon and playing naked with the sand n water table during last night's BBQ.  They fell asleep on the way home, so taking a bath was not an option. 

Since we were leaving the house at 8AM this morning for a bike ride, there was no time to give them a bath.  I still had to get them dressed, feed them breakfast, pack for the ride, get the bike trail and bike ready, make my husband's lunch, and eat breakfast myself.  All was going well, until 7:30 AM.  Brodie came running toward me saying, "poopy, poo, poo."  Since I needed to change their diapers before we left for our bike ride, it was perfect timing to do it now.   Brodie made a beeline down the hall toward his room.  Lucas stayed behind in the playroom.  It only took me a couple minutes to persuade Lucas to walk down the hall for a diaper change.  As we walked in that direction, Brodie ran past us, shorts off, diaper off, butt naked.  Which meant only one thing, a poopy mess!  What was suppose to be a quick diaper change, turned into a full bath.  I let go of Lucas's hand, so I could catch Brodie before he spread poop around the room.  He already had it all over hit butt, and down his leg, and was proceeding to spread it all over the changing pad on the floor of his room.  He wouldn't hold still.  I could barely wipe him clean. 

Lucas and Brodie were all excited to take a bath.   It was one of the fastest baths ever, but they still came out super clean.  Just as fast as I pulled them out of the tub and redressed them, we were out the door, putting on our shoes, and bike helmets. 

They both made stink about getting buckled into the bike trailer.  They wanted to ride their tandem tricycle, rather than go for a ride in the bike trailer.  Once they were both buckled in, they  insisted on me reading them their books, rather than reading them on their own.  And when I refused, they proceeded to kick and push each other. 

I had to let them work it out, so I could finish putting air in the tires, and finish gearing up myself.  Finally at 8:20AM, running late, we were rolling down the driveway on our way to the bike trail. 
I had planned on a leisurely ride down to meet my friends, but since I was late, I had to pedal at full power for the next 8 miles. 

After meeting up with my friends, we rode back up the bike trail to CSUS.  The kids had a ton of fun running and playing on the grass under the large shade trees.  The local squirrels were a bit annoying, as they got so close to the kids, it seemed as if they thought they were food. 

After a fun filled morning of play, I took the long route home, in hope that Lucas and Brodie would fall asleep in the bike trailer.  No such luck.  They finally fell asleep later in the day after going for a walk in the stroller. 

Ever since Lucas and Brodie were born we have made an attempt each day to keep them on the same schedule.  Sometimes it was impossible, but for most of the time it has worked.  But there have been times, like last night, when their schedules were completely off. 

Brodie fell asleep at 7PM, on the way home from my parent's house. Lucky for us, Brodie transferred right into his bed, and slept all night, until 5:30 AM.  He slept 10 1/2 hours....simply amazing!  A rare occurrence.

Lucas, however, was wide awake and lively!  We've had such a difficult time the past month with sleep, that we were doing everything possible to stay quiet, afraid we might wake Brodie up.  We didn't even want to think about what we would have done if he did wake up, since getting him to go back to sleep would have been virtually impossible. 

So, instead of taking a bath, Lucas took a shower with us.  We all got ready for bed in our bedroom, and then went out to the playroom to read a bedtime book on the couch.  Lucas was not interested in reading a book.  Instead he threw a fit because all he wanted to do was play basketball.  Kicking, crying, and saying, "ball, ball" repeatedly, Lucas would not calm down.  All I could think of was, get him out of the house before he wakes up Brodie. 

I literally ran out into the garage, as my husband opened the stroller.  My husband grabbed Lucas a cup of milk, and a blanket, and we were off down the street on a night time stroll.  It took 30 minutes for Lucas to fall asleep, because he kept saying in a whiny, sad voice, "park, park." 

As the sun set, and the street lights began to shine, Lucas was silent.  All I could hear were a few birds chirping as they settled in for the night, sprinklers spraying the sidewalks, and the occasional sounds of cars passing by.  Lucas transferred into his bed, and I was asleep myself, within 15 minutes.  This was the best sleep I've had in a month.   

While at Costco last Thursday, pushing Lucas and Brodie in the tandem shopping cart, I got "the look" from a complete stranger.  He was looking as me as if I was completely crazy. 

Lucas and Brodie saw the bikes, and they were both shouting excitedly, "bike, bike, bike...There's a bike!", over and over again.  If I pushed the cart in the opposite direction, they shouted louder.  All they wanted to do is look at the bikes up close.  They like the wheels, spokes, saddle, handle bars, the frame, they like everything about a bike.  The only thing missing from these bikes were the bells.  But that was okay, because Lucas and Brodie kept saying, "ring, ring", making the sound of the bike bells they have on their tandem trike at home.

We had to be some where later that afternoon, so we had to get going.  I still had a box of diapers to buy before we could leave.  As I steered the cart in the opposite direction, toward the diaper aisle, I said, "Bye-bye bikes....bye-bye," and waved bye-bye.  It works for almost everything else Lucas and Brodie have to part with or put away: airplanes flying over head,  Daddy leaving for work,  putting bubbles and favorite toys away.  The three of us walked away from the bikes, waving and saying "Bye-bye bikes....bye-bye."  As for the man who gave us "the look", I just smiled as we passed him by, and thought to myself, he must not have kids.  

Last night at bedtime, it was the same ole, same ole....Lucas and Brodie would not go to sleep.  After having a horrible time the night before, I just couldn't bare the thought of dealing with a repeat so soon. 
So after about 10 minutes, I could tell they weren't going to fall asleep.  My husband and I both said, "Good Night," walked out, shut their door, and walked down the hall into the kitchen.  Loud crying, screaming, door and floor pounding pursued.  I decided to give them 5 minutes before we went back in their room.  I was curious to find out what was going to happen.  As I listened to the racket, I imagined they had both climbed up on to their dresser and knocked the lamps onto the floor, or opened their closets, and emptied the contents around the room.  But in reality, they did nothing, but cry.  When we opened the door, Brodie ran and climbed back into his bed, grabbed his lovie, layed down, and sobbed.  Lucas was still lying on the floor, crying, wet from his big tears.  My husband picked Lucas up, which made him cry louder.  All he wanted was his Mommy.  I was sitting on the floor next to Brodie, with my hand on his chest to calm him down.  As soon as I got up to hold Lucas, Lucas immediately stopped crying, and held on tight.  He melted into me.  So there I was, sitting on the floor, Brodie holding on to one of my arms, as I held Lucas with my other arm.  The 5 minutes they spent in their room with the door closed was so traumatic, that they were emotionally exhausted.  I felt sad, but it did reset them.  They were no longer interested in playing.  All they wanted was to snuggle, and fall asleep, while holding on to Mommy, and only Mommy.  Brodie was asleep within 5 minutes.  I carefully slide my arm away from Brodie, so I could set Lucas in his bed.  I continued to sit on the floor, meditating, occasionally opening my eyes, to check on Lucas who was watching me closely with his sleepy, drooping eyes, as he snuggled close into his blankets and pillow.  After 15 minutes, they were both asleep.  Self reflection:  Will I close the door again?  I really don't know.  Closing the door definitely let them know I was serious about them going to bed.  But it upset them so much, that I'm not sure if it is worth repeating.  I was hoping when I closed the door, they would both go back to bed, and fall asleep.  But they were too upset.   

Monday night the bedtime routine went well.  It was 7:45 PM, and we were done with baths, stories, and milk.  Now it was off to bed.  There didn't seem to be any reason why Lucas and Brodie would not fall asleep fast.  But something was up.  I don't know what.  After, over an hour of Lucas and Brodie crawling in and out of their beds, crawling on us, the rocking chair, arching backwards when being held, and just plain making a fuss, neither of them would hold still long enough to fall asleep.  The longer they squirmed around, the more tired they got, and the more frustrated my husband and I got. As soon as my husband left their room, Lucas climbed out of bed.  I knew then, I had to think of something fast, or they'd both be out of bed, and running down the hall. It was now past my bedtime, and Lucas and Brodie were still awake, overdone, and getting grumpier by the minute. I had had enough.  I didn't know what to do!  All I knew as I had to get them to sleep some how.  All I could think of was to take them for a walk.  I picked Lucas up, grabbed Brodie's hand, and we walked down the hall.  Brodie started crying as soon as we left their bedroom.  He was probably wondering where we were going, when it was bedtime. 
I buckled Lucas into the stroller, who immediately started kicking and crying.  He didn't want to be buckled in the stroller at bedtime.  I walked back inside, picked up Brodie, whose screaming was escalating, and buckled him into the stroller as he kicked trying to get out.   My husband just watched from a distance.  I said to him,"You are welcome to walk with us or or stay home, if you need a few minutes of peace and quiet."  He chose the peace and quiet, and I don't blame him. 
As the garage door closed, we started our night time walk through the neighborhood.  Lucas and Brodie were both throwing a fit.  I felt bad, but I knew they were just tired, and they would be okay.  Ten minutes later, they were silent, in a deep sleep.  I walked back home, and my husband and I transferred them to their beds.  Thankfully, they both slept through the night, because Brodie woke up at 4:45 AM. 

I awake to the pitter patter of little feet.  My day has begun!   Ever since Lucas and Brodie started sleeping in their toddler beds, the nights are getting shorter, and shorter.  They go to bed later and wake up earlier.  5AM is sleeping in around our house.  As soon as Brodie's eyes pop open, he flies out of bed crying, runs out of his room and down the hall waking everyone in the house up.  Lucas, who isn't a morning person, and would normally keep sleeping, if uninterrupted, wakes up grumpy! 
I'm a morning person, but it still hurts to wake up to two crying, demanding, little grumpy people.  All they want is to sit on my lap, and read books for the next hour, until the sun is shining or they realize its breakfast time.  Then the breakfast chatter begins, "wa wa, meek, more wa", which they repeat over and over in various order until their food is served. 

wa wa = water
meek = milk
wa = waffle

 

Lucas and Brodie bring me to laughter many times throughout the day.   When Brodie sees a cat, he says, "may may."  When Lucas sees a cat, he says, "cat."  But if Brodie refers to  a cat as a "may may", then Lucas does too.  The funny thing is that Brodie can say "cat", but prefers not to. 

There are so many cute, adorable, and funny things Lucas and Brodie do and say each day, that I just don't want to forget.  I make a point to enjoy, and fully embrace each new stage.  Even though there are time when I am thankful that it is "just a stage", so I can say, "This too shall pass."
  

My friend dropped off her two sets of twins this morning to play with Lucas and Brodie while she cleaned her house.  I figured, if I can handle my twins, I can handle three sets of twins. 
Lucas and Brodie are 21 months.  She has girl-girl twins who are nearly 5, and boy-girl twins who are 9 months.

They played with all the toys in the playroom.  They colored with crayons.  The kids had a difficult time sharing the crayons.  Brodie only wanted to color with the brown crayon. But this turned out to be a popular color, since one of the big girls was coloring a dinosaur.  Then Brodie decided he wanted to help one of the big girls color.  But they didn't want his help. 

All the kids got hungry at the same time.  But before I could feed them, I had to change the littlest ones diapers, because one had wet through, so I figured they were both probably wet.  I put the littlest ones in their high chairs, before I opened the gate to let the rest of the kids through to eat their snacks.  I color coordinated the older girls snack cups and drink cups, in order to keep track of who had what.  Lucas and Brodie shared a water bottle, but demanded having their own bowl of snacks.  Luckily, they didn't seem to mind there were kids borrowing their high chairs because they were hanging out with the big girls. 
 
While I fed the littlest ones, the other four wandered around the kitchen and dining room eating and drinking.  They all finished before the littlest ones were done, and wanted to go outside to play.  The big girls put on their shoes, while I helped Lucas and Brodie put their shoes on.  I sent four out to play, while I cleaned up the littlest ones.  Then the rest of us went out to join in on the fun. 

The big girls collected rocks with Lucas and Brodie.  They made rock trails on the back patio.  All the other kids wanted to play too, and kept picking up the rocks, which irritated the big girls to no end.
 
They rode around on the two tricycles, and one fire truck.  Of course, arguing over who got to ride what.  One kid was always left to wait their turn.  If Brodie was the one who had to wait his turn, he screamed and stomped around the entire time.
 
The littlest ones were constantly on the move.  I had to keep a close eye on them because they were on a mission to put everything in their mouths that they could find, and then climb and stand up whenever possible. 

Two hours flew by fast.  The kids were starting to get tired, and hungry again.  We went inside to play until their Mom came back to pick them up....almost another hour past before they all went home. 

I would definitely watch them all again.  They were all well behaved, and had fun playing together.  I thought Lucas and Brodie were loud, but three sets of twins, toys, and piano, all in one room, gives a new definition to the word LOUD! 

I'm looking forward to the next kid swap, because it's my turn to drop Lucas and Brodie off at my friend's house so I can clean for a couple hours.  
 

Mother's Day 4:45 AM I awoke to crying and the pitter patter of Lucas's feet walking down the hall.  I picked him up, and hugged him tight.  He immediately melted into me, and fell back asleep.  "YES," I thought,  "I can go back to sleep." 
6:15 AM I awoke to laughing, talking, and the pitter patter of two pairs of feet running down the hall, and the loud clanking of Lucas and Brodie shaking the gate.  By the time I got out to greet them, they had gone in opposite directions.  Lucas still at the end of the hall, shaking the gate in hope that it would open and he could go play.  Brodie came running out of his room to meet me.  As he lifted his arms up in the air and said, "Up", he also said, "Poop".  (Did he really just say poop?  I dismissed it.)  I told him I couldn't pick him up right then because I needed to open the gate for Lucas.  Brodie followed me down the hall, talking, very upset.  I couldn't understand what he was talking about...except for the occasional "up, up, up" interspersed in his chatter.  When I did finally pick him up, I felt the oh so too familiar wet, squish of a loaded diaper that had blown out, down one leg, all the way to his ankle.  YUCK! OH NO! (In my mind, I told myself to remain calm, but I couldn't.  This was not my idea of how I wanted to wake up, especially on Mother's Day.  And my husband was still in bed.) 
Lucas was content reading books on the couch in the playroom.  I locked the gate, so he couldn't come back to offer his "help."  As I placed Brodie in the bathtub, and turned on the water, I yelled (as nicely as possible) "Help! You need to get up!  I need your help!"  (I wasn't about to do this on my own with my husband home.)      
Skip forward an hour or so.....my husband left for a mountain bike ride.  (I rode yesterday morning.)  Breakfast went smoothly.  We played, drove to do an early morning errand, arrived back home and played some more.  Whenever Lucas and Brodie let me, I'd take a few minutes to work on my Mom's Mother's Day gift.  Then Lucas started crying.  Brodie was laying on top of him, and wouldn't get off.  I smelled it as soon as I walked into the playroom, puke!  YUCK! OH NO! (I told myself to remain calm, as I looked around the room.)  I rescued Lucas from being squished underneath Brodie. And yes, Lucas had puke down the front of his "Mother's Day" matching twin outfit my Mom had made for the boys.  There was puke several places around the room.  BUMMER!  (I thought Lucas was all better.  He had the stomach flu 4 days ago.  Apparently drinking milk was a bad idea.)  I striped Lucas in the kitchen, grabbed a onesie from the never ending clean laundry pile, and sent the two of them outside to play, as I cleaned up the puke on the floor. 
Skip forward to 11AM.  Lucas and Brodie were both hungry.  I had a pile of poopy laundry in the hall, puky laundry in the kitchen, and craft stuff spread all over the table.  After snack time, I sent them off to play, in hope that I could finish my Mom's gift.  No such Luck! 
I tried to get Lucas to take a nap, but he refused.  I didn't even try to get Brodie to nap because I knew it wasn't going to happen.  They were both tired and grumpy.  I was starting to lose it. 
I still had to finish my Mom's gift, do a load of laundry to get Lucas's outfit clean,  get ready to go to my parent's house for an early afternoon BBQ, and the kid's needed to take a nap!
So, we sent for a drive.  They were both asleep within 5 minutes.  I turned around, headed home. transferred them into their beds, and YES, they are still napping!     
Peace and Quiet!  Now I just have to get everything done before they wake up. 
My day got off to rough start, but it's already getting better. 

Bedtime didn't go smoothly at all tonight.  Lucas and Brodie kept climbing out of their beds.  They just couldn't settle down.  Lucas climbed out of his bed, when I was helping Brodie stay in his bed.  When I helped Lucas back to bed, Brodie climbed out of his bed.  At some point, I realized I was fighting a losing battle.  The kids thought it was funny.  I was getting frustrated.  I didn't know what to do.  I still don't know what to do.  My husband was out riding.  So I had the to handle the bedtime routine alone.

When they were sleeping in their cribs, it was easy.  They would both lay down and quickly fall asleep without much of a fuss.  Now that they are in their toddler beds, things have changed, and instead of getting better, its getting worse.  Not only do they refuse to nap during the day, now they are refusing to stay in their beds at bedtime, which means they can't fall asleep.

Right when they started to calm down, Steve came home from his bike ride.  Which got them all excited again...."Daddy, Dada, Daddy", they both said as they headed for their door.  I wasn't about to let them out of their room.  I knew if I did that, it would take even longer to get them to sleep.  Steve came in and I told him, he either had to stay until they were asleep, or leave now.  He decided to stay, but it didn't matter because neither Lucas or Brodie wanted Daddy.  Lucas clung to my upper body, while Brodie clung to my legs.  I finally sat in the rocking chair, with Lucas and Brodie piled on top of me, and rocked, rocked, rocked, until Lucas finally fell asleep.  Brodie kept moving around, eyes drooping, in and out of sleep, while he kicked and poked his brother.  Lucas finally got pissed off and started crying.  I let Brodie slowly slide down my legs to the floor, where he immediately started crying as I got up and placed Lucas in his bed.  Then I picked Brodie up and rocked, rocked, rocked until he fell asleep.  This whole ordeal took an hour.  I suppose it can only get better from here.  I hope it doesn't get worse. 

"Good morning my little ones.  It's time to get up and get ready for Dinosaur Day."  Once Lucas and Brodie were dressed, each wearing their dinosaur t-shirts, they kept pointing to their shirts and saying, "dine" which means dinosaur, and then they would ROAR! 

Lucas and Brodie attended their first parent participation toddler pre-school sponsored by First 5 and Capitol Parents Group. 

We read books and sang songs about dinosaurs.  The kids searched for toy dinosaurs.  They colored dinosaurs. Last but not least, they roared and stomped around like dinosaurs.  Everyone had a great time! 

 

5AM Brodie wakes up screaming, slides out of his bed, and heads for the door.  If I don't get into his room fast enough, he's out the door and into the hall before I can grab my robe and slippers.  So I literally, leap out of bed, and fly into his room to stop him before he reaches his door.  Apparently, meeting me at his door wasn't part of his wake up plan.  He continues to scream and throw tantrums at the top of his lungs until Lucas wakes up, about an hour later.  So far the only way to prevent Brodie from continuing his screaming tantrums in the morning, is to watch You Tube videos, or read Duck On A Bike over and over and over. 

This morning I tried setting him down, since he didn't want me to hold him anyway.  He proceeded to scream and kick around on the floor, until I sat down with his favorite book Duck On A Bike.  He quickly got up, stopped screaming, and climbed onto my lap to read the book.  Brodie says, "More, read more" each time I finish reading the book.

Honestly, I'd rather read the same book over and over again, instead of sitting in front of our lap top watching You Tube.  Plus Brodie is an interactive, multi-tasker.  He likes to watch the video, point and touch the screen, talk non-stop, climb around, push as many keys on the keyboard as he can, while I try to keep him sitting on my lap, rather than on top of the table.  Its still dark outside, I'm still waking up....and not in the mood.  So Duck On A Bike is my first choice, even though I read this book at least 10 times a day, probably  more.  (In all honesty, I really do love this book.  I just wouldn't choose to read it more than once a day.)

After 3 days of refusing to nap in their beds, I had to figure out some sort of solution.  Lucas and Brodie are so excited over their new sleeping arrangement, ie: cribs converted into toddler beds, that they WILL NOT NAP!  Luckily, they are so tired by the end of the day, that they happily go to bed at night. But for the sanity of all of us, Lucas and Brodie need to take a nap. 

Monday's nap time started the same way as the past 3 days.  Lucas and Brodie run and jump on their beds.  They climb onto each others beds, and roll around laughing.  If I close the door and leave them alone, they continue playing.  No nap.

My solution:  driving to sleep.  It worked when they were little ones.  Monday, I loaded my overexcited sleepy heads into the car and drove, to the only bank I know with a drive up ATM to make a deposit.  They were both asleep within 15 minutes.  I transferred them into their beds once we arrived home.

This morning we visited the Sacramento Railroad Museum, and stayed until they were exhausted.  They fell asleep in the car on the way home.  And, yippee, they both transferred into their beds, and they're still napping. 

Here we go again!  There's never time to prepare for what's going to happen next.  Only time to worry, and try to second guess what might happen.  Nap time today was going to be the indicator as to whether Brodie might be able to sleep in his crib two more nights.  We have an 8 hour mountain bike race Saturday morning, so we'll be gone all day.  Sunday is the soonest we can disassemble both cribs. 

Well, there was NO nap today.  Brodie immediately climbed over the rails, balanced himself between the two cribs and landed with a flop, head first into Lucas's crib, laughing with delight...in just a couple seconds.  Brodie was so proud of himself.  Lucas, who was trying to fall asleep, wasn't excited about having his brother in bed with him.  I watched Brodie's acrobatics from the crack in their door.  I immediately walked back in, and reminded him not to climb out of his crib as I placed him back in his own bed.  After his third climb, that was it.  Brodie was laughing in complete and utter joy from his newly discovered abilities, and Lucas was a grumpy, crying mess.  Nap time was over.   
 
Luckily, the only crib that converts to a toddler bed is Brodie's.  Rather than wait until Sunday to get rid of both cribs completely, we separated the cribs, placing each of them on opposite walls in their room, disassembled Brodie's bed, converting it to a toddler bed (with one short rail), and placed pillows on the floor around both of their beds. 
 
After a long afternoon and evening, from dealing with two tired kids, Lucas and Brodie, are finally off to bed for the night.  Our fingers and toes, are crossed in HOPE that they both sleep through the night, and STAY in their beds. 

Brodie woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  5 AM he woke up crying in his crib.  I immediately went into his room, covered him up with his blanket, placed my hand on his chest, and amazingly he went back to sleep.  Lucas just kept right on snoring away.  I went back to bed.  5:30 AM Brodie woke up again, crying louder this time.  By the volume of his crying, I knew he was up for the day.  I decided to let him cry and take a quick shower.  Lucas was just going to have to deal with the noise for a little while longer.
All of a sudden I heard a loud thump, and Brodie went into hysterics: crying and screaming.  I flew out of the shower, soaking wet, grabbed a towel for my hair, and rushed toward Lucas and Brodie's room.  No surprise when Brodie met me as he was opening his door.  I took one look at him.  He was standing, walking, no apparent blood or broken limbs.  He was hysterical, and kept saying, "Up, up, up!!!!"  I picked him up, placed him back in his crib and said calmly, yet sternly, "No climbing out of your crib!.  Do you want Mommy to pick you up?"  "Up, up, up!" he kept saying between sobs and tears.  As I picked him up, he wrapped himself around my body, and snuggled tight as if he was never going to let go.  For the next 30 minutes or so, he continued to hold me tight.  Eventually his tears dried up, and his sobbing stopped, but he still wouldn't let go.  Brodie finally let me checked him over.  He had bumped his head, lower lip, and right knee as a result of climbing out of his crib.  He'll be left with a few bruises, but luckily that was it.  Lucas finally woke up, earlier than usual.  I don't blame him considering all the racket.

We already knew it was time to transition Lucas and Brodie out of their cribs, but thought we could put it off until this weekend.  Normally, when I hear Brodie wake up in the morning, I go right in and pick him up.  So he doesn't have the opportunity to climb out of this crib.  I should have known.  Thank goodness he is alright.