Which one are you, again?

I preface this story with a note that as soon as I realized what had happened, I called my mother and could barely tell her what had happened, I was laughing so hard.

Last night was bath night and afterwards everyone was diapered and too energized to let me get them dressed any further.  So I sat on the couch with a pile of diaper covers and onesies as they ran from the living room to the dining room and back, giggling like little madmen.  They discovered a measuring tape (the soft kind for sewing, not a hardware tape measure) and grabbed onto different parts of it to chase each other and fling each other down roller derby style.  I caught Max and started to put his diaper cover on, but he slithered away as I fumbled with the velcro.  I watched the little blue diaper cover slide down his leg as he ran out of it, but then grabbed it, and him, again and was successful this time getting the diaper cover on and a Captain America onesie, which he looked at and smiled.  Next, I grabbed Caroline and got her dressed and I was down to just one naked little boy who eventually submitted to being dressed in his bright blue Sesame Street onesie.

And we went on with our nighttime routine.  I warmed some bottles and gave them to them, noting proudly how Max and Daniel got in their correct "spots" this time, rather than switching as they've been doing the past few months.  Then I handed out toothbrushes and watched as they ran around brushing their teeth (and the furniture, a little), and then it was time for their sleep sacks - we have graduated from the swaddles to sleep sacks with open arm holes and long, sleeping-bag-like coverings to encase their legs - blue for Daniel, green for Max, pink for Caroline, and we settled in to watch one episode of Caillou before bed.

When the end music for Caillou comes on, there is generally a Pavlovian response triggered in the children as Daniel reaches up to be carried to bed and Caroline begins toddling off toward her bedroom.  This night, I scooped Daniel up and walked to the back of the house with Caroline on my heels.  When I walked into the bedroom, it was very dark - no moon showing - and Daniel started screaming as I put him in his crib, which is very unlike him.  Caroline had snuck back in the living room and as I stepped into the hall, I saw Max walking toward me and picked him up and deposited him in his bed, whereupon he started screaming, too.  I thought it might be because it was dark and Daniel was yelling - it was a little scary to me when I walked in with him.  But they always settle down, so I didn't worry.  I got Caroline and put her in bed, said good night, and headed back out.  They cried for about 5 minutes, which is longer than normal.

The night before, Daniel had cried at about 12:30, and then Caroline had cried, yelling, "Mommy - Danyoh!" as if to alert me that Daniel was crying.  But they both promptly went back to sleep.  This time they seemed to sleep solidly until about 7:00am - over an hour earlier than they are generally up.  If they wake early, they will generally fuss for a bit and then settle back down to sleep until after 8.  But not this morning - they kept on yelling every few minutes.

At 9:00, I got them up and brought them in the living room for a treat - smoothies for breakfast.  I sat on the couch and they milled around sucking on their smoothies, periodically handing me their cups to clear a blueberry husk or blackberry bit out of the straw for them.  After about 20 minutes, I looked down at Daniel who was leaning against my knee and was startled how much he looked like Max.  But he was wearing the bright blue Sesame Street shirt, so it was Daniel.  To be sure, I decided to check for the point on his ear.  I looked on his right ear, and it wasn't there.  So I looked at his left ear - maybe that's where it is.  It wasn't there.  And at this point, running my finger over both ears and finding no little bump, I honestly thought to myself, "Oh no! The point on his ear went away! How sad!" for a second or two before the truth dawned on me.

And then I leaned over to "Max" and checked his right ear and, sure enough, there was the bump!

No wonder they were so upset when I put them to bed - I'd put them down in the wrong cribs, in the wrong sleep sacks, with the wrong pacifiers, wearing the wrong onesies!  They probably woke up when sunrise broke through their curtain and would've settle back down like normal, except they were in the wrong place and freaked out all over again!

I spent all day today double checking who was who every time I changed a diaper.  I think they knew I'd dressed them in the wrong shirts and were trying to pull one over on me, but the joke ended up being on them when I didn't figure it out!

After all that, we went to the zoo with Colleen and Gavin today - here are some pictures from the petting zoo.

I am happy to report that nobody sat in the duck pond today.  Who knows what back-up clothes I would've mixed up!