Duck, Duck, We Got Goosed!

This is Piggyduck. It may look like 2, but Piggyduck is one being, whose whole is greater than the sum of its' parts.
The bedtime routine didn't go so well last night. OG was fightin' it hard. She was belligerent and fresh and tenacious and just would not go to bed. The fight was on.
She is a master of delay tactics. On a good night (for her), she can put off going to bed for an extra hour. That would be an hour more than her already elaborate bedtime routine, which we gleefully (and regrettably) helped her create. Now since she is a creature (and I do mean creature) of habit, there is no part of the routine that can be left out, and yet she feels free to add to it on a whim.
So...after finally getting her upstairs and brushing her teeth, washing her face, going potty, undressing (slowly) all by herself, choosing pajamas, putting them on (again, slowly, all by herself), reading a book, while repeating particularly well-liked phrases and commenting sporadically on characters and their plights, rocking with Mommy in the chair, folding her blankets just so to make the perfect pillows, lying her blankets on her bed one by one (yes, she needs all 3, even in the dead of summer), sitting on the floor and rubbing her head while Celine plays in the background, Mommy thought is was the perfect time to say goodnight. But, NO! She wanted to read the book to Mommy herself. On a night when she would have gone to bed earlier and happily, on a day when she she has napped well and isn't so cranky and crabby, it would not have been an unreasonable request. But not today. Mommy (Cin) just needed her to go to bed so we could relax a little before feeding the babies and giving them their 4th breathing treatment of the day, doing dishes, making formula, picking up the house a little before bed...You get the idea.
So, the fight ensued. She insisted on reading.
No, Honey. Please get back in bed.
She repeated her request loudly while starting to cry.
No, Olivia. It's time for bed.
She started screaming and throwing a whopper of a tantrum.
Cin calmly asked her to get back in bed and go to sleep.
NOOOO!!
If you don't get in bed, I will take Duck away.
And there it was. The consequence. We know exactly what her currency is and we are not afraid to use it. We hate taking away Duck and/or Piggy (Duck always goes first because Piggy is the favorite by just a little), but we use it as a last resort when a timeout just won't work or isn't enough and there are no other options.
Then, the standoff.
1..........2........get in bed........3.
No movement.
And Duck was gone, banished to the stairway to the attic.
I WANT DUCK, I WANT DUCK!!!!
Go to bed, you can have him back tomorrow.
I WANT DUCK!!!!!!
If you don't go to bed, I will take Piggy.
And off to bed she went.

She came down the stairs 5 minutes later and insisted that she needed the additional blanket that was in her hand. Another delay tactic. I led her back to her room and lay it on top of her and asked her not to come out again. It was only at this moment that I realized Duck had been taken because she asked for him back.
Request denied. (united we stand, right?)
You can have him back tomorrow. Goodnight, Olivia.
'Night, Mama.
1o minutes later I hear a door open again, then another, then I hear it close, twice. I was wondering what was going on, but let it go because she never emerged on the stairway into the den where we were sitting. I imagined she thought better of it and just went to bed after peeking out of her room.
After our chores were done and we were ready to retire ourselves, Cin looked at me with her big brown eyes and asked in her most pathetic, sing-songy, "I'm a softy" voice, "Can we give Duck back?". I jumped on he opportunity and responded with a resounding "YEAH!" Duck had only been taken 1 time overnight and it was torture for us. We had to talk each other through a very rough night as we took turns, each trying to convince the other why we should give it back.
So we ran up the stairs like 2 kids running for the ice cream truck, tore open the door to the attic stairs and "WHAT#$%^!!!!!" Duck was gone. The little scoundrel went and got him and took him to bed. After we picked our jaws off the floor and stopped peeing our pants from laughing so hard, we went onto her room to confirm the theft. There he was, tucked sweetly under her arm and she, so fast asleep that she didn't wake even when we removed the covers and turned her over to see the evidence of her cunning. Well done, OG. Our hats are off to you.

I look forward to the day she is old enough to sit around the table with her 2 moms while we polish off a bottle of wine (or 2) and reminisce about the day she stole Duck back.