In what felt like a miracle, both girls were asleep by 8:15. We're still seriously working on the logistics of having them in the same room, with Primus who is likely to recite stories and sing songs for three hours after being put to bed, and Secundus, who likes to cry for some time as she goes down for the night. So, in two different beds, in two different rooms, they were asleep, and it was nice.
At 10:15 I decided to head for bed. I first picked up Babs to move her to her crib. That didn't go well. In fact, she woke up Kiddo, who had been coughing on and off since bedtime. She woke up seriously coughing, and seriously upset. (Apparently neither one of them is keen on the other hysterically crying. Good thing it rarely happens.) Throughout the next hour, we set up the pack-n-play, the humidifier, soothed the older one back to sleep, and bounced the younger one until she fell asleep. Plus, three of the four of us changed clothes because they'd been thrown up on. (Amazingly enough, the one who most often soils her clothes is the only who finished the evening in the same clothes she started in.) And when I moved the tiny one to her bed for the night, she woke up again. But didn't cry, so I let her explore her new digs, and I think (cross your fingers) she's down until our 4 am rendez-vous for food.
It hasn't quite been 90 minutes since my fateful decision to call it a day, but it feels another lifetime.
