It was partly my fault yesterday. The decision to let Cole take a bath at 4:30pm was perhaps not the wisest, but it had been a long day with Kelly not due to be home for another 2 hours in a meeting. It's a bit like the butterfly effect...or is it the actual butterfly effect?
So he spends 45 minutes in the tub and is in a bit of a foul mood because I used a comb to untangle his curly hair that is always getting knots. He can't even stand shampoo--he is a boy who values his personal space. Then he was chewing on the comb--which seemed like a bad idea. Potential plastic bits being swallowed and whatnot.
The rule after a bath is that he can have "run around in a diaper" time. This usually leads to a few wild minutes followed by him wanting to cuddle in the chair. Frequently he gets sleepy which is why this is a great pre-nap activity following lunch.
Me? I'm thinking I should put him directly into his overnight diaper despite not having had dinner and it being 2 hours before bed. But worst case scenario is him asleep on the living room floor not ready for bed. So I put him straight into pjs.
And as they would say on Thomas the Tank Engine, "then there was trouble!"
Mom came home from work early and--at my direction--fed him soup for dinner. Plus he had a bottle before bed. Which was not until 7:30pm after we'd watched several Thomas episodes On Demand.
Any wonder he woke up at 2:30am soaking wet? Not really when I stopped to think about it. It wasn't his scared, immediate need of attention awake. Nor was it his playtime awake. Call it some sort of parental intuition but I knew.
Quick change, new pj pants, bottle, back to bed, right? Wrong. I think he actually said the word "cartoon," too.
When he was first born my mom told me a few stories about how she'd have to sleep on the floor in my room when I was little. And it's obvious he gets whatever genetic combination leading to this from me. But he doesn't like to climb into bed with us. So rather than sit in the chair all night while he stares at me, I've taken to grabbing a blanket and pillow and putting him back in his crib.
Damn squeaky, vintage hardwood floors though! It usually takes him awhile to fall asleep but in the meantime I just curl up and nod off. Occasionally waking to shush him. He either gets worried nobody is there or starts to play loudly. In either case, a firm "shhh" and "go to sleep, Cole" usually helps. Last night, I think it was about 4:30am before he finally drifted off to the point where I could sneak back into my own bed.
Of course, Kelly's alarm for work goes off at 4:45. Short night.
They need to make comfortable, easy rollout parent beds that store under the crib. Perhaps this is my million dollar idea?
So he spends 45 minutes in the tub and is in a bit of a foul mood because I used a comb to untangle his curly hair that is always getting knots. He can't even stand shampoo--he is a boy who values his personal space. Then he was chewing on the comb--which seemed like a bad idea. Potential plastic bits being swallowed and whatnot.
The rule after a bath is that he can have "run around in a diaper" time. This usually leads to a few wild minutes followed by him wanting to cuddle in the chair. Frequently he gets sleepy which is why this is a great pre-nap activity following lunch.
Me? I'm thinking I should put him directly into his overnight diaper despite not having had dinner and it being 2 hours before bed. But worst case scenario is him asleep on the living room floor not ready for bed. So I put him straight into pjs.
And as they would say on Thomas the Tank Engine, "then there was trouble!"
Mom came home from work early and--at my direction--fed him soup for dinner. Plus he had a bottle before bed. Which was not until 7:30pm after we'd watched several Thomas episodes On Demand.
Any wonder he woke up at 2:30am soaking wet? Not really when I stopped to think about it. It wasn't his scared, immediate need of attention awake. Nor was it his playtime awake. Call it some sort of parental intuition but I knew.
Quick change, new pj pants, bottle, back to bed, right? Wrong. I think he actually said the word "cartoon," too.
When he was first born my mom told me a few stories about how she'd have to sleep on the floor in my room when I was little. And it's obvious he gets whatever genetic combination leading to this from me. But he doesn't like to climb into bed with us. So rather than sit in the chair all night while he stares at me, I've taken to grabbing a blanket and pillow and putting him back in his crib.
Damn squeaky, vintage hardwood floors though! It usually takes him awhile to fall asleep but in the meantime I just curl up and nod off. Occasionally waking to shush him. He either gets worried nobody is there or starts to play loudly. In either case, a firm "shhh" and "go to sleep, Cole" usually helps. Last night, I think it was about 4:30am before he finally drifted off to the point where I could sneak back into my own bed.
Of course, Kelly's alarm for work goes off at 4:45. Short night.
They need to make comfortable, easy rollout parent beds that store under the crib. Perhaps this is my million dollar idea?