More on being a boy...

We've always encourage the kids to come in and snuggle with us in the mornings, particularly on weekend mornings when we are lazing around in bed (well one of the adults is anyway =). We figure that the kids will be too old (or too large) to care very soon -- so we value this special time...

Now a days it is still dark in the morning and we are dead asleep when they come in. There is a distinct gender difference in the approach to HOW they come in. The girls wander in almost silently, quietly walking up to the side of the bed, waiting on some acknowledgement that we notice them and want them to climb in. Then they ease into an open spot . Then then snuggle up keeping the covers high, find a pillow spot, and close their eyes and relax. The process is very warm, gentle and nice.Nicolas on the other hand is a different little beast. You can hear him coming a mile a way (well not a mile since our house isn't that big) but you get the point. He runs in with heavy footfalls (THUMP, THUMP, THUMP) in a very distinctive way. As he enters our room and rounds towards the bed he looks for a landing spot...

Now for a landing spot he is not really looking to see if anything is in his way, rather just aiming for somewhere -- anywhere on the bed. He launches himself up onto the bed usually landing on his knees. This means if he lands on the wrong place it can be really quite painful!!! He rarely misses body parts completely and if one of the girls is there first, he inevitably lands on one of them.Once on the bed he scrambles over to the top of the covers (again with disregard for where he is kneeing) and moves under the covers as quickly as possible.

This is all very disruptive. The unconscious parts of our brain has been trained to wake and be alert as soon as we hear his footsteps coming down the hall (a survival mechanism). Failure to take preventative action can cost you dearly, it has me many times.Even when under the covers he is the epitome of a whirling dervish (whatever that is) rotating around and around, climbing on Melissa, diving under the covers etc. He only spends a few moments sitting still before he is moving again.He is a disruptive force that shatters the quite tranquility that is the early morning sleeping chambers.