Night Night

Oliver has been a big part of putting together his new room. He has helped to remove the new bamboo flooring from the boxes, helped nail the bamboo in place, he's helped to put up the molding, helped to put up the new light and the new shade, and helped to arrange the furniture (despite all of this work, we still aren't finished with the room and so I still am not (as per Davis) supposed to show you the before and after shots).

Perhaps it is the level of involvement Oliver has had with the room, perhaps it is the twin bed frame (versus a mattress on the floor), or maybe it is the stuffed kitty Maggie gave him (and with which he falls asleep each night), or maybe it is something else - I could speculate until the cows come home, but really it is not the reason but what is happening in Oliver's new room - he's sleeping! After close to two years Oliver has decided that sleep may not be such a horrible thing. Some nights it is still a battle to say good-bye to outside and good-bye to trucks and trains and blocks, but eventually we do make it up to Oliver's bed and eventually he does fall asleep, tucked in between his dino sheets and hugging kitty. For nap time we still need to sit on the couch, take a walk or a drive to fall asleep, but once he is done he let's me bring him up to his room and tuck him into bed, and he sleeps.

I do have a confession to make though. While Oliver does go to sleep in his room, I bring him to our bed when Davis and I head upstairs. I bring him in because we've not yet secured his book shelf to the wall and I don't want him to get hurt if he decides to scale it at night. There are also a few pieces of molding on the floor that have yet to be put up and I don't want him to get hurt on those. Also, the bed and mattress don't really work together - there is a large gap between the end of the mattress and the end of the bed frame and I worry that he'll get hurt there (he does get stuck in there when he playing on the bed, so my worry is not unfounded). So, until we remedy these things Oliver will remain snuggled between Davis and me each night. The reality is that neither Davis nor I are rushing to get these last projects done. Speaking for myself, I will be sad when the projects are done and I won't have to go into his room and scoop him up and bring him, fast asleep, to our bed. Oliver moved into our bed when he was 5 months old, so he's been in our bed for more than a year and a half. There have been many nights I've cursed (sometimes under my breath, but many times loud and in a not very mommy-like manner) his presence (he has been known to do round house kicks to every body part, to take up the whole bed, pull hair...). Those times aside, I love having him with us. I love that he will roll over and say "hold you, hold you mommy" and give me a big hug in the middle of the night. I also love when he will wake up in the middle of the night and say "hi mommy" or "hi daddy" and won't fall back asleep until we say hi back. I also am always interested to see how we'll wake up. Some mornings he will sit up and give Davis and I a kiss and say "I love you," other mornings he'll just say "all done" and vault off the bed, other mornings he will produce a book and ask to be read to, and other mornings he'll starting identifying body parts - poking Davis and me saying "hair, nose, mouth...".

I know that in a short time he'll be in his bed all night, but for now I am going to cherish these last nights of snuggling and continue to drag my feet on finishing the last few pieces of Oliver's new room. I am also going to savor nap time (everyone said nap time was a welcome rest during the day, until a couple weeks ago I had yet to experience it - it really is wonderful).