A long day with a little Monkey

Trouble got back into the habbit of climbing out of his crib. He's been doing it occassionally for a while now, but bed time has always been safe, meaning he'll stay in the crib until he wakes up. Times have changed. After lunch, I always lay Trouble down in his crib first, then go downstairs to give Donkey his bottle, then lay Donkey down in his crib. Trouble & Donkey share a room. So, on this day, I took Trouble upstairs, he used the potty (yay!) and I laid him in his crib. I did all of the normal pre-nap routine - music on, curtains closed, nightlight on. I tucked him in and closed the door. I walked downstairs and changed Donkey's diaper, and got ready to feed him. All of a sudden, I heard footsteps on the stairs. There was Trouble. He got out of the crib and out of his room and decided he was staying up. So, I fed Donkey, then brought Trouble in my room for quiet time with Pirate. After a while, he finally fell asleep in my bed, but only slept for around 25 minutes. Normally he is a really good napper (Thank God, because I need a break from him!), so this 25 minute business wasn't going to cut it. When he woke up, he was a total mess, completely grumpy. After Princess got home from school, Trouble said," I wannanap in my twib." (Translation - I want to take a nap in my crib.) It was going on 4, and I knew a nap that late would kill bedtime, so I wouldn't take him back upstairs. It made for a very unenjoyable afternoon and dinner time. At 7:40, my husband took Trouble up for bed. He usually goes to bed around 8, so this wasn't too early, considering the lack of nap. Hubby came back downstairs, and 2 minutes later, so did Trouble. He did this 3 more times before I said to just let him stay up with the two bigger kids for a little longer. At least Donkey was getting the advantage of falling asleep first. I let the other 3 stay up and watch a Christmas show that was on. I was dreading putting Trouble to bed because I figured he'd follow what he had done all day and we'd be back and forth all night. Thankfully, he was so exhausted from barely sleeping all day that he went to sleep as soon as I laid him in the crib. It still felt like the longest day ever with him. And I couldn't even have a glass of wine to unwind from the long day :)