The Joys of Fatherhood

Eisley and Cyrus with Uncle Jarett and Poppy

I love my kids. Cyrus, our two-year-old boy, is a brilliant, hilarious, rambunctious little man. Eisley, our five-month-old daughter, is a happy, exuberant, and loving little girl. I think about their precious little faces and my heart melts. Every time I hold them I have to press my lips into their big, puffy cheeks. I can't help it. They both have huge cheeks! (Five years ago, I never would have thought I'd be talking about things like this. My, how things change!) Last night was a tough night with the kids, though. 

We've been trying to figure out how to get Eisley to sleep through the night. So last night we decided to swap the kids' bedrooms. Eisley has been with us, so we moved Cyrus' bed into our room, and put Eisley's crib in Cyrus' room. We thought this would help us let her cry herself back to sleep when she wakes up in the middle of the night. What we didn't count on was how the new change of scenery would affect our son.

Cyrus was up until 3:00 AM this morning. I have no idea why. He was tired, as were we. He was sleeping on the same bed he always sleeps on. He was even asleep when we went to bed. But at 11:45, when Eisley started crying the first time, he woke up and didn't go back to sleep for over three hours. For those of you who may not have kids, that's a long time. A really, really long time.

When he finally fell asleep...well, if you're a parent, you know what happened next. Eisley started crying. One kid goes down, another one gets up. That's the law of childhood. That's what the kids talk about in their baby-language. We think it's nonsense, but it's a real language. Let me translate for you.

Cyrus: "Hey Eisley, when you cry tonight, make sure you cry loud enough to wake me up."

Eisley: "Why, big brother?"

Cyrus: "Because--oh wait, here comes mommy--ice cream, basketball hoop, baby Eisley, Veggie Tales--okay, she's gone. You need to make sure I wake up so that I can keep mommy and daddy up until 3:00 AM."

Eisley: "But why would you want to do that?"

Cyrus: "I don't know. Do I need a reason for everything?"

Because babies are out to get us cute and cuddly even when they keep you up until 4:45 AM.