He's best described as a defiant, toe-head with a dimply grin, and contagious laugh. He's also obsessed with shoes (like his father) and prefers to run around the house stark-naked, destroying everything in his path. Then sucking up to his mother by looking at her with those bright, blue eyes, saying "Mammma" and snuggling in for kisses.
Suck up.
Back to my point though. The problem. Sleeping is a nightmare. Cole used to be great at bedtime. We'd lay him down, tell him "night-night," and close the door. He'd fall asleep without any squeals or fuss. But that was before we moved him and Pearl into one room.
Now it's at least an hour-long process to get him to sleep. We haven't changed our bedtime routine at all and yet, Cole screams the second we put him in his crib. On a positive note, Pearl has gone from trying to avoid bed at all costs to cooperative angel now that she doesn't have to be alone. One night, after two hours of listening to him scream, "Mammmma!!!" Jeff looked over at me and I simply said, "I really don't know what to do." We've resorted to having Jeff lay on the floor next to his crib, holding his hand or foot until one or both of them fall asleep. If you try to sneak out before he's asleep, the screaming starts all over again. And that's just when you put him to sleep! He started waking up in the middle of the night and with the potential to wake up Pearl if we let him cry it out, I end up putting him in bed with us.
We had no idea the transition to a new room would be so hard for him. I'm not sure if it's because the room isn't quite as dark as his old room, having to share with his sister, new noises, the cold (our poor kids, they are in the coldest room of the house), or the fact that his new bedroom was once the off-limits playroom to destroy. After three weeks, I thought we'd be past this hurdle and back to our pleasant bedtime routine. Or maybe it's a developmental stage thing or not being tough enough as parents. What I do know is, we need help. Any suggestions on getting Cole back to his old bedtime pleasantries?
And once you figure the whole sleeping thing out for me, can you tell me how to convince my kids that the couch is NOT a trampoline?
Ok, fine. I give in to their pleadings to play on the cushions. Sometimes it's not worth the battle of finding something "fun" to do. Plus, they seem to have so much fun.UPDATE: As of a couple days ago, Cole is sleeping through the night. Apparently Jeff had a stern talking to with Fern and laid down the law. Some threats were issued, tears were shed, and bottom lips quivered. But it worked! Now both kids go to bed at the same time and everyone wakes up much happier.
