Damn Monkey

For the past three nights there has been a monkey in Ignacio's room. Two nights ago it was accompanied by a "gorila grande." He wakes up screaming and trembles as you try to reassure him that it is only a shadow or perhaps just a bad dream. At 22 months neither of these explanations hold much water or understanding. Ignacio has discovered shadows and, if you haven't noticed, there are a lot of shadows at any given moment, especially at night. So what are parents to do with a little one going through this stage? Last night I attempted to tell the monkey "goodbye" which seemed to work for a good half an hour. You can stay with him but, unless you are prepared to sleep on the floor next to his crib, good luck trying to sneak out of the room once you think he is alseep. We tried bringing him into our bed but he just crawls around on all fours and pretends to be a kitty licking my face at 3am. We set up the pack-and-play in our room last night as a last resort in case he woke up for the third time screaming that the monkey was in the corner, but he didn't. I had rocked him into a DEEP sleep, placed him in his crib and left the lights on really dim. Who knows, maybe I am the crazy one. Maybe we need to call animal control to come get the damn thing.