That's one way to do it...

Gavin slept from 11:00 pm until 4:45am last night. Unbelievable. The longest stretch of sleep I've had yet.

Granted, he did not nap at all yesterday, so he was most likely exhausted. I took the twins to visit my third graders yesterday. That was somewhat of a mistake on my part. As soon as my monstrous double-stroller rounded the corner, I had 38 grubby little hands reaching for the babies.

"They're so PUNY!"

"Which one's the girl?" (Um, the one with the barrette...)

"They look funny!"

"Do they have teeth yet?"

"Are you coming back to teach next year?"

The teacher in me soon took over. "Everyone take a giant step back!!!" I shouted. "I can answer your questions one at a time!" I could feel myself becoming warm and overwhelmed. The neonatal doctors warned us about taking the babies into crowds. It certainly doesn't get any more germ-y than a bunch of third graders. Believe me, I've taught third grade for six years...I've seen more fingers up noses than I care to mention.

Long story short, there was no way the babies were going to nap through all that commotion. And I've found that sleep begets sleep. If they don't take their nap early in the day, they fight sleep for the rest of the day and become intolerable in the evening hours. It took some doing, but I finally got both babies down by 11:00 pm.

The other reason I think he slept so well is because he was on the couch right next to me, resting in the crook of my arm. So even though Gavin slept soundly, I did not, as my elbow was bent at a 90 degree angle the entire time trying to keep him comfortable. My intention was only to stay on the couch until he fell asleep, and then move him upstairs to his crib...but since he never sleeps that soundly, I stayed put.

In either case, I doubt he (or I) will sleep for that length for quite a while, but it's made me reconsider this whole co-sleeping thing, at least for Gavin. Maybe I'll stick him in bed with me tonight and see what happens.

Thank you for all the comments about my friend Dr. Sears and his attachment parenting philosophy. It made me feel much better about my choices!