I spoke too soon....

Remember when I declared the war on sleep won?  And then foolishly said that we were going to take it easy with naps because Asher was doing such a great job?  Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.  I know better than to utter such things aloud...and as always, he's put me right back in my place.

It all started last night.  While putting Asher to sleep I said "Good night Prince Asher" and I swear I heard him whisper back "That's Emperor Asher to you"... but I couldn't be sure above the noise of his sound machine, so I didn't think much of it.  But then at 2 a.m. I heard Harlan sneak out of our bedroom and shuffle down the hall.  I was almost back to sleep when a voice in my head said "Coup.. Who? ...Coup!".  My eyes immediately opened and I knew I needed to make sure everything was as it should be.  Surely I would find Asher sleeping peacefully in his crib.  Harlan had probably just gotten up for some water.  Oh, was I wrong.  I hid around the corner of Asher's door, and when I snuck a peek, this is what I saw:  

Asher had fashioned his white muslin blanket around himself like a toga and was orating from inside his crib. And he had an audience.  Lola Bunny, Geoffrey the Giraffe, his elephant, his teddy bear, Zebra Rocker, and Harlan (...traitorous hound). 

 I started eavesdropping right as he explained he had been wrongfully imprisoned, 

and that justice needed to be served.  Coup indeed.  

He had a plan.  Because he had it in writing (damn blog) that his mommy wasn't going to aggressively nap train him, he was going to nap exactly how he wanted to. On mommy.  No more Mr. Nice Guy, going down easy for naps in his crib. Then he spouted off all the good parts from the best inspirational movie speeches of all time-- some Braveheart, some Remember the Titans, some Lion King... I have to admit, even I was feeling moved until I remembered that his intention was to incite a rebellion against me.   After a guttural "Veni, Vidi, Vici!", Emperor Asher toppled over and fell asleep.  

I had nightmares all night of a two foot tall tyrant ruining my life....

Then today happened.  At nap times, when Asher showed signs of being tired, I gave him his pacifier, wrapped him in a blankie, and walked him upstairs.  In his nursery we swayed back and forth, back and forth, as his eyelids fluttered closed.  For his first nap he let me put him down, but then refused to sleep.  After 45 minutes I picked him up and he finally napped on me for an hour and a half.  But all that went right to hell for naps 2 and 3.  Realizing that I was tricking him by rocking him to sleep and then laying him down, Asher retaliated with his own form of an alarm.  He would grab a tight handful of my shirt, that way, even if he was asleep, if I tried to put him down he would wake up when he lost his grip and refuse to be left in his crib.  Fantastic.  After explaining this to Ben through text message, his response was simple: "Nap training?".  

It looks like we may be heading down that road after all.