I was woken up at 3:37 this morning by Topher sobbing in his room. “Mommy? Mommy!” He never wakes up at night anymore so I got up as quickly as I could and made my way to his room. When I opened his door he threw himself at me, wrapping his arms around my legs. Still sniffling, he said “Mommy? Mommy, I want to sleep in your bed!” We don’t let Topher sleep in our bed anymore – well, unless he’s super sick (and even then, he usually wants to be in his bed with all his babies) or unless he wakes up during a particularly loud thunderstorm. I tried to convince him to stay in his own bed for a few minutes but I was too tired to fight when he raced over to his bed, grabbed his blankie, lifted his arms up and demanded “Carry me to your bed, Mommy!”
As you wish, little man …
I try to be patient with Topher on the rare occasions that he’s in the big bed because I know the days when he is going to want to curl up between Nathan and me – and the days when he’s going to be able to fit! – are numbered. But sharing a bed with Topher is no easy feat.
For whatever reason – even if it’s just me and Topher in the bed, and he has an entire side to himself – he likes to snuggle. Last night I set him down in the middle of the bed and within two minutes he had wriggled and rolled his way over to my side. Nathan had his full half of the bed and somehow Topher managed to kick and squirm until I was basically hanging over the edge. Then I felt him trying to tuck his cold little feet under my thigh.
As if that isn’t bad enough, Topher also sucks the index and middle finger of his right hand when he’s trying to fall asleep. And when I say “suck”, I mean aggressively. And loudly.
He likes to be covered up by his Blankie when he’s trying to fall asleep. His right hand is at his mouth and his left hand is stroking Blankie. Well – it starts out as stroking. Then it becomes patting. Once he’s completely reassured that Blankie is, in fact, covering him – he moves on to stroking/patting anything within reach. So last night I essentially got a full pat down on the entire top half of my body by my half asleep two-year-old.
Just when Topher was almost asleep, he jerked awake with the realization that he didn’t have his beloved elephant in bed with him. I wasn’t about to get out of bed again so I loaned him my teddy bear. He cuddled with it for a minute or two before announcing “No, Mommy, I don’t like Gordo!” – and the next thing I know, poor Gordo is flying over the side of the bed.
And that was the end of any attempt to sleep on Topher’s part.
It didn’t help when Chloe randomly let out a huge belch from her kennel.
Nathan had been feigning sleep all this time but when Topher started talking and giggling (“Chloe burped, Mommy! Say excuse me, Chloe!”) Nathan finally sat up and said, “If you say ONE MORE WORD, you’re going back to your bed!”
Ten seconds later Topher pushes his little face to within a millimeter of mine and whispers “HI, MOMMY!”
Cheeky little monkey, isn’t he?
Needless to say, that was the end of Topher sleeping in the big bed.
Maybe we'll try again another night ...