Every night, after I read to L, I put her in her crib and play guitar softly as she falls asleep.

The other night, a bit more about the “i boom!” mystery came into focus. In the midst of some early-forming nightmare, L suddenly woke up, popped up in the crib, and within a matter of a few seconds was climbing out, screaming and terrified. I grabbed her just as she was swinging a leg up, and she clung to me tightly. Within another second, though, she was awake, calm, and asking me to put her back down in the crib.

“It’s probably nightmares,” K said a few days ago. It seems she’s right.