5:00 AM

Andrew has taken to waking up at 5:00 AM (for the day) about three times a week. He has never been a great sleeper but when he was younger, we would just ignore the crying and he would quickly go back to sleep. The 5:00 AM wake up calls only lasted a few short minutes and then the house would remain quiet until close to 7:00 AM. Lately, however, Andrew has learned to get out of bed and beat on the door. I lock them inside of their room so that they won't roam the house or accidentally hurt Wyatt, so Andrew screams at the top of his voice "Mommy, up" (OVER AND OVER AND OVER) and beats on the door. This is really frustrating at 5:00 AM considering it is usually not the first time that we have been woken up (although Wyatt is almost making it through the night). So anyway, this morning the screaming started. I dragged myself out of bed and went in and told Andrew to hush. When I got back in bed the screams were actually louder than they had been previously. Ashley and I both laid in bed, equally tired and frustrated, when he finally got up and headed for the bedroom. I cringed, so I know Andrew did. It was magic. Within two minutes Ashley was back in bed and we never heard another peep!! I was really happy for all the surface level reasons at first: more sleep, peace and quiet, not having to get up again, etc. But as the day has gone on I am more thankful for the reasons that really matter. My boys have a consistent father who means what he says and they respect that, even at their age. They already know that there is no point in testing Ashley because they will never win...and that guy is in my corner! That is something to truly be happy about!