After finishing his snack, he continued drawing only after I wiped his face, hands, and the table from all of the apple residue. To be honest, I'm a little nervous about the cleanup with other foods while he's little, considering it is somehow even messier than when he's big.
It only took a few minutes for me to start noticing his droopy eyes and cute yawns, which he seemed to be trying to power through while he worked on his purple car coloring sheet. I looked around the room for a schedule of some kind, which I found on a screen on the wall, which showed that now was naptime for littles, just as I thought.
"Are you feeling tired?" I nudged his shoulder as he shook his head in response. "Hm, why don't we take a nap break?" He immediately looked up at me, his eyes now tearing up. "It's okay, the colors will be here when you wake up. You'll feel so much better." He sniffled and looked down, setting his crayon on the table. I stood up and he did as well and I was thankful he wasn't fighting me on this. I asked one of the leaders where the nap area was, and we were directed to a door on one wall which opened to a large room filled with beds with railing underneath to be pulled up. I noticed a shelf with clean pacifiers and grabbed one when he wasn't looking, just in case.
I walked to a bed near the back and pulled back the covers. "Okay, let's get those shoes off, c'mere." I waved him over and he plopped down on the bed and let me untie his shoes. "Alright, I'm gonna tuck you in." I started to move the covers more, but he grabbed my arm and mumbled something. "What?" I asked him. "Stay." He said this, still looking at his lap and I grinned.
"Okay, move over then. I ruffled his hair and he smiled as he quickly scooted over to lay on the other side of the bed. I removed my shoes and clambered into the bed next to him, pulling the covers over us. We moved around for a moment to get comfortable and then sat in silence until he spoke. "You big?" I chuckled as he fiddled with the edge of the blanket. "What do you mean?" He seemed to be thinking. "Y-you big... I not." I realized what he meant and I hesitated, unsure of what to say. "Yeah. What do you think about that?" I stroked his arm while his head lay on my chest. "Is' good..." I smiled.
"You like it?" He nodded and hummed. "I'm glad. Have you been having fun today?" I could tell he smiled. "Yeah! 'cept... essept this mornin when Aidan was on the phone..." I froze, realizing this was probably what made him so upset. "...Did someone call you on the phone today, Jas?" He didn't answer so I lightly shook his shoulder. "Yeah. Fum home." I thought about this. "Did he say something mean to you?" I rubbed up and down his arm, feeling angry at whoever said shit to him to mess him up this badly. "H-he said... evy-one think I'm dead..." I felt horrible from hearing this and didn't even know what to do. "I'm sorry. He sounds like a total ja- meanie. C'mere." I shifted closer to him and held him tighter and he sunk into my touch. "I'm glad not being big makes you feel better, though. It makes me feel good too." He reached his hand up and gripped my shirt. "G'night." I chuckled and kissed the top of his head.
As we laid there I felt him slowly fall asleep and his other hand reach up to his face. I looked down and saw him sucking his thumb. I gave a small smile and gently replaced it with the paci and felt relief when he started to suck it. I sighed in content as I lay there with him cozied up in my arms as I let myself fall asleep as well.