Role Reversal

When Kara took the pacifiers away from the twins we adults all thought that Jackson would have the hardest time adjusting. We were so wrong. Jackson now shrieks once when laid down in his crib and then rolls over and goes promptly to sleep. Genevieve, on the other hand, is a real trial. She grouses very loudly for a quarter hour or even a half hour. She roams from one end of the crib (or playpen) to the other and back again. If Jackson is unfortunate enough to be sharing the sleep area with her, too bad for him. Genevieve plows right over him shrieking about the extra effort required. I've caught her more than once draped over Jackson crying loudly while he sleeps on. (Isn't that so typical of a guy?)

Jackson has long held the title of The Fussy Twin. I think he claimed the title while in the NICU at the hospital and he hasn't relaxed his hold since. Today, for the first time that I can recall, Genevieve made a valiant stab at proving her worthiness for the title. She was cranky, cranky, cranky. Nothing I did seemed to please that girl.

I had the twins out at my mom's house, so they had to share a playpen at nap time. I put Genevieve down first, hoping that she'd be deep asleep before I put Jackson in with her. She complained long and loud about taking a nap. Finally she was quiet, so I slipped Jackson in. He let out his one loud shriek and then dropped right off to sleep.

The shriek woke up Cranky Genevieve and started her crying again. I gave her a couple of minutes to get back to sleep, but she didn't. I took her out of the playpen and tried walking her to sleep. She wasn't going for that. After extended effort on my part, I finally got her to sleep. I put her back in the playpen with Jackson.

Maybe a half hour later she woke up screaming! (This is the girl who regularly takes two hour naps.) She woke Jackson up. Jackson was in a good mood. Genevieve was not. She was so cranky that after listening to her for ten minutes, I put her back in the playpen. She did not go back to sleep. And so the day went on... I couldn't see any new teeth coming in, but something is up with her.


Jackson meanwhile was in a very good mood most all day long. He caused a few problems in the evening, but it was from his exuberance, not from being fussy. First he latched onto Bentley's water and soaked himself and the carpet. Then he grabbed three of Bentley's crackers and shoved them into his mouth simultaneously. (Bentley does not like it when the twins touch his stuff.) After we cleaned the mess up and monitored Jackson's eating (one cracker at a time!), he then scooted his way along the couch and pulled the box of trains off. Bentley was on the verge of tears over that last stunt. He rushed over and rescued all HIS trains. Jackson was oblivious to the chaos he created. (Isn't that, too, typical of a guy?)