Yes, like any split parents, he would take the girls for a night here or there, but really - all the work fell on me. I would work on crate training Payton, but with Hannah in my bed, Mr. M would guilt me into how unfair that was for our little girl.
And he'd leave & I'd have a puppy sleeping with me.
As Hannah grew older, Payton would go back & forth between snuggling me & her sister. By the time I was pregnant, Hannah would sleep on the floor next to my side of the bed, and P would be at my feet. Both very certain in their roles to watch over my safety. If I slept on the couch, as I did often for comfort of staying on my left side, they'd be out in our living room sleeping right by me.
Once J arrived, we had a bit of chaos. First, we had to address Hannah's age related pain medicine induced aggression. I don't think I will forget the day J, just a month old to the day, joined me in saying good-bye to her.
Payton, now the main girl in our home, was a bit lost. But then, with time, she learned this little bundle did more than just cry & stick up the place. He would start moving. Her toys, so rarely touched anyway, would be removed, and new toys put in their place with clear message do not even sniff.
She learned the moving boy would apt to grab at her tail, but also very giving in rewarding her with food off his tray. She learned, that if she moved quick enough she could clean his seat off between my removing from the high chair & coming back to clean up.
J loves her with all his heart, even when she is "annoy'ding" him. He's learned, she doesn't make a very good playmate, as she'll walk his toys on the floor. :)
After J turned 3, and he started joining us nightly in our bed, I noticed a subtle change in my protector. Suddenly, instead of being on the outside of the bed, Payton had moved more towards the center. When Mr. M was out of town, she'd go all the way over to his side, to act as J's rolling buffer.
Now, with him back in his own bed... I've lost my snuggle mate. P has taken to sleeping on our love seat, positioning her perfectly to see J & us. She will only join us, upon J's joining us.
Even then, she moans, grunts, etc. if she cannot snuggle him. This morning, J joined us around 4:30. We get up at 5:15'ish. So while I did not fall back asleep, J & P fell very soundly back to sleep. I had to snap this picture before waking him up... P had figured out how to position herself just so she was touching his feet with her bootie & her entire back was aligned with my leg.
As a side note... Please ignore the Toy Story blanket in place of our comforter. Mr. M had the horrific flu this season. In an effort to maintain J & my health, I washed the comforter on Sunday. It took until Tuesday to dry. I'm now waiting until I have a chance to change our sheets before I put it back on our bed.
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