The Monkey in the Crib

If you've ever enjoyed the energetic motion of monkeys in a cage at a zoo, you may have seen them climb back and forth along the front of the cage, either a bit excited or a bit agitated by your presence outside the cage. I've seen tiny tamarind monkeys do this and they go back and forth, left to right across the bars of the cage. What brought monkeys and their frenetic climbing to mind? Malia in her crib. Last night as I put her back in her crib after attempting everything else to get her back to sleep, she cruises back and forth along the rail of her crib never taking her eyes off me, just as the monkeys do. She watches me as she goes back and forth and back and forth...she has a slight smile on her face, but you can see she's waiting for me to make a move to leave and she's got the howl prepared for it. So we just eye each other and I smile as I realize that not only does she remind me of those silly monkeys, but that's she also got my number...I don't want her to howl so I won't be leaving the room.