Daddy's Boy

Matt made a request of me the other night, one that I was all too happy to accommodate once I saw the logic in it. He asked me to adjust Patrick's medicine schedule. He had been getting his meds at 8 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon, and midnight. The schedule worked most of the time because I wasn't getting up too early or staying up too late. The only problems I had were when I was particularly tired and midnight was much too late.

So Matt asked if I could adjust the schedule to give him his meds an hour earlier each time. At first I hated the idea because waking up at 7 seemed awfully early. Then I remembered Matt wakes up that early on a daily basis. It'd be wrong for me to turn down his suggestion because I didn't want to have to wake up as early as him. I also realized that since I wouldn't have to stay up as late, later than Matt usually does, to give his midnight meds, seven in the morning isn't quite as early.

So yesterday I worked on adjusting his schedule to wake up with Matt this morning. It was every bit as early as I'd been dreading. I can't even remember how long it had been since waking up before the sun. Patrick was completely out still when I snuck into his room with his medicine. He must have suspected something was up, though, because he was repeating, "Dadada" from the moment I got him out of bed. He was elated to find Daddy waiting for him in the other room. I can't recall the last time Patrick was so content to be awake in the morning, especially that early.

I'm worried it's going to cause problems eventually, though. As it is, when Patrick wakes up in the mornings, his morning nap, and his late afternoon nap (when he gets one), his Daddy is usually home or about to be. He seems to already be settling into a pattern of expecting Daddy to be around when he wakes up. The only time he's not around is when Patrick gets up from his afternoon nap. I wonder if he's going to start being difficult to deal with anytime he wakes up and Daddy's not around. We wonder if that's part of the reason he threw a tantrum yesterday afternoon. There was nothing clear he wanted then, and he's never thrown a tantrum at that time of day before, so that's our only guess.

On the bright side, it was a good start to the day for all three of us. Patrick's been in a better mood than normal because he got to see Daddy more. The schedule actually worked to get me a little more sleep than normal. And Matt had a great morning at work--although that may have been due more to his own accomplishments than spending time with me or Patrick.

It'll be interesting to see how well the schedule works on the weekend, when Matt and I stay up later already and Matt doesn't have to get up early, but I still will. I guess it will be worth it if I get to spend so much more time with him during the week. I also suspect it will be easier to make myself get ready for church on Sunday when I don't have to rearrange when I wake up to make it on time.

Don't forget that today is most likely the last day to give your opinions on the baby gate dilemma. Matt and I have still made no decisions, and we're desperate for some advice.