As I write this post, Daniel is asleep for the second night in his toddler bed. Most of the other toddlers we know have been out of their cribs for a while now, but we have been too chicken to try this before now. Daniel is a great sleeper, and I had the secret fear this was because he had no choice but to be in his crib. However, when he gets up in the morning, he is pretty insistent on getting me up at the same time, so I figured if he could play in his room, I would get another 15 minutes under the covers.
The first night, Dan and I were watching TV downstairs, and we had the monitor on. About an hour after he fell asleep, we heard a sudden thud, and then nothing. We kept expecting him to cry, but it stayed quiet until we couldn't stand waiting anymore. Dan snuck in to check on him, and found that he had fallen out of bed, but was curled up sound asleep on the floor! He was able to lift Daniel back in bed without waking him. We are grateful for a short bed and soft carpet.
So far, this has worked out really well. He actually seems to be OK with staying in bed at night, and while I had to correct him a couple of times at nap time, he did eventually sleep. I am sad to admit that we used to just put him in bed and run away. Now we stay to calm him down by reading and singing to him. Its very relaxing for me to have down time with my little boy.
I think that by trusting our instincts, we might have actually found the perfect time for this change. We second guess ourselves on parenting all the time, but its nice to get it right once in a while.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
We Survived
Thanksgiving week was a long one for our little family. Dan started off on Sunday with a drive back to Grand Forks to give the defense of his dissertation. The presentation went very well, and he has been declared Dr. Daniel Theis by his adviser. While he was gone, I decided to head up to the Twin Cities on Monday to visit with friends and shop. Daniel is traveling better these days, and I had a stack of CDs from the library for him to listen to.
We had a lovely visit with Kate and her children, and the boys played with toy trains non-stop. I was able to fill my new minivan with furniture from Ikea thanks to shopping help from my sister-in-law. Wednesday night Dan and I were able to enjoy an actual date all by ourselves, but we were so tired, dinner was all we could handle.
Thursday was the traditional huge family bash at my grandpa's house. With 35 plus people, we were there all day. I got to participate in the traditional politics/religion discussion/debate. (yes I know that is what you are supposed to avoid, but it works for some of us)
After a relaxing couple of nights staying with my mother-in-law, and watching Daniel charm her with his cuteness, we were able to drive home on Friday.
Well, I know that this post has mostly just been catching up on the week's events, but I promise future posts about Daniel's new talents soon.
We had a lovely visit with Kate and her children, and the boys played with toy trains non-stop. I was able to fill my new minivan with furniture from Ikea thanks to shopping help from my sister-in-law. Wednesday night Dan and I were able to enjoy an actual date all by ourselves, but we were so tired, dinner was all we could handle.
Thursday was the traditional huge family bash at my grandpa's house. With 35 plus people, we were there all day. I got to participate in the traditional politics/religion discussion/debate. (yes I know that is what you are supposed to avoid, but it works for some of us)
After a relaxing couple of nights staying with my mother-in-law, and watching Daniel charm her with his cuteness, we were able to drive home on Friday.
Well, I know that this post has mostly just been catching up on the week's events, but I promise future posts about Daniel's new talents soon.
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