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While We Were Sleeping

I got up with Austen this morning to give Al a chance to sleep in, so even though I'm not usually a napper, I felt the need to conk out while watching the U.S. Open on TV this afternoon. We were all watching in the living room (or rather, Al and I were watching, and Austen was alternately sitting with us on the couch and running around the room playing with various toys), so I announced my intentions, put my head in Al's lap, and was out cold until Austen felt the need to pinch my nostrils closed about 45 minutes later.

When I sat up, I immediately noticed that the storage dresser in the corner looked a little different:

Me: "Did you let Austen draw all over the dresser?"
Al: "Oh, he must have done that when I was asleep."
Me: "You were asleep, too?" I start scanning the room to see what else Austen might have done while both of his parents were out cold. Suddenly the nose pinch makes sense; he was probably just checking to make sure I was still alive.
Al: "Uh, yeah. He woke me up by trying to hand me the blue crayon. He was chewing, so my first thought was that he'd eaten part of the crayon, but his teeth weren't blue."
Me: "What *was* he chewing?"
Al: "Beats me."

Needless to say, Austen and I had a little talk about suitable drawing surfaces a few minutes later, though I think he knew that the dresser was off limits before he started scribbling. If he's not announcing that he's about to do something bad by saying "nooooooo" immediately before doing it, he's confessing the evil deed immediately after (hence the proffer of the blue crayon). Thank goodness for melamine and Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

Happy Father's Day, everybody!