Saturday, April 10, 2010

How'd HE get THERE?

My regular readers will know that we recently moved, Bab-E Brother having provided an impetus for more living space.

All in all, the boys are doing well in their new environment (having a neighborhood playground a block away helps. So does a screened-in back porch and a bigger yard for countless playtime adventures.)

However, when you're 5 and 2 (and 3 months for that matter), it'd probably be abnormal if there weren't some adjustment issues.

The issue we most anticipated was bedrooms/sleeping, particularly for Little Brother, who hears Big Brother talk about monsters, but has more trouble accepting that they're not real.

You may remember that we successfully transitioned Little Brother from crib to toddler bed several months ago, before Bab-E Brother took it over was born, but this was only accomplished with tremendous help from Big Brother, his roomie (and part-time psychotherapist).

We were a little worried that, having grown accustomed to having a "roomate", Little Brother would be fearful of sleeping in a room by himself, even if we tried to prophylax this for weeks with "in the new house, you get to have your own big boy room."

It also helps that:
-The boys share a "Jack & Jill" bathroom, complete with lights on and open doors.
-Mom-E and Dad-E's room is about 10 feet from Little Brother's door.
-We take turns (alternating most nights) reading stories in each of their rooms before bed.

But all of the above does not guarantee that he'll stay in his room all night.

On at least one occasion, we've awoke to find him usurping the foot end of Big Brother's bed, which is really quite cute.


Other times, he'll come into our room screaming at 3 am (which is a little less cute).

We try our best to get him back into his own bed, but if you were up until 1am, sometimes you're too exhausted to get up it's easier just to let him sleep with us (preferably facing away from us at the other end of the bed, since it's not the safest idea).

The other morning I woke up at about 6am to find Little Brother wedged in between Mom-E and I.

I suppose that I could've picked him up and put him into bed with us in a moment of transient global amnesia, but I have absolutely no recollection of doing so.

When Mom-E got up, she asked me "when did Little Brother come into our room?" (my side of the bed is closer to the door, and he usually calls for me.)

"I was going to ask you the same question," I replied, realizing she, too, had no idea how/when he'd come to join us.

So apparently, he's "adjusting" just fine to the new sleeping arrangement. He no longer needs to come into our room screaming. He just climbs on in and helps himself to our bed, and calmly falls back asleep.

No wonder he's such an animal lover, because that seems pretty dog-like to me.
It's pretty hard to keep a toddler out of your bed when you're exhausted and he sneaks in so quietly.

Ah, yet something else to be on the lookout wake-up for.

Have a good week,
Busy-Dad-E

8 comments:

  1. That is very cute! Little brother reminds me of little cousin. Little cousin is always wanting to just hang out with other people. He is not one for solitude. I'm sure little brother will stop sleeping with you and big brother at some point, but it is kind of cute right now! love, aunt-e

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  2. Ah-ha...another Sneaky Sneakerson in the family!

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  3. I woke up with Aunt-E in my bed once. She said it was cold... but we all know the truth. It was those dang bears and Herny Monster!

    Love,
    CY Aunt-E

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  4. @Aunt-E: It's a little less cute when he wakes us up screaming at 3am.

    @Gramm-E: He is the ORIGINAL sneaky sneakerson in the fam.

    @CY Aunt-E: Did Hernry Monster look like Sully from Monsters, Inc.?

    @MY REGULAR READERS WHO USUALLY LEAVE A COMMENT: BOO TO YOU! :) I FEEL ABANDONED. ONLY FAMILY LOVES ME ENOUGH TO VISIT AND COMMENT YESTERDAY. :) I'M GOING TO GO SKULK NOW. *SIGH*

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  5. haha I like your rant. That made me laugh a little. I'll be honest though, I don't know how I pictured Hernry Monster. I suppose if I were to put a face to him that's what he would look like.

    Love,
    CY Aunt-E

    P.S.
    Hernry is finally graduating from the blue college this year.

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  6. I have the same Transformer sheets. Just FYI.

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  7. Well the Bab-e brother we had slept with us for years. It kept us from having #4!!! lol
    They are only little for so long.... It's so nice to see you enjoy every second even tho sometimes it is rough.

    Someone needs to email me and explain CY Aunt-E ??? Cause that is BAB-E sister in MOM-E's family? this is getting really confusing hehehe

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  8. Yes, I'm the Bab-E sister in Mom-E's family. When I was little I had a very vivid imagination and I talked about the monsters under my bed a lot. There were scratch monkeys too because I saw monkeys scratching themselves and making a lot of noise at the zoo one time and Mom-E and Aunt-E terrorized me with that for years.

    Hernry Monster was one of my "under the bed" monsters and he went to "Blue college" because I went to a preschool with blue doors and I referred to it as the "Blue school". It makes more sense if you see the interview my dad has on tape of me talking about this when I was 3...

    -CY Aunt-E

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