WIP - sweet dreams

(trusty guard dog, trusty wooden sword in sleeping hand to slay any nightmare monsters, protective dragon, camping lantern... what more would one need?)

Transitioning Zach into his own room to sleep at night has been a WIP since I found out I was pregnant. To re-cap... we have had a family bed since birth. And we've loved it! And we wouldn't jump in to changing if it was possible to have a King sized bed or if I wasn't expecting a baby. There just is not enough space for 4 of us, no way, no how. Heck, there isn't enough space for 3 of us while I am this pregnant and often I just sprawl out and kick everyone to other rooms (poor Doug).


So the transition began with talks. I joke that they were Palestine-Israel level negotiations on who sleeps where. We chatted about creating a space on the floor of our cabin for him, a fold out cot, a hammock? Nothing was accepted. Then when I got pregnant enough, I just kicked the boys out in a cranky fit. They started sleeping together in Zach's room and it was going well. Zach LOVES the daddy time, loves the boys only time, eats it up. But then he was complaining that it was too squished in there. Well... we cooed... if you would be ok with daddy leaving after you fall asleep, then you'd have all kinds of space. So we organized the space, made some toy hammocks for the growing (they are supposed to be shrinking!) tribe of stuffed animals, and let him make the space his own.

(the foot of his bed set up with supplies)

After about 2-3 weeks of daddy sleeping in there with him, we had another 1-2 weeks of daddy leaving after Zach crashed (and sometimes having to return when the boy would wake and call out). And now this week... he is full on sleeping on his own in there. This is HUGE. I mean, we still read stories, tell stories, chat, tuck in, etc. And sometimes he wanders into our room in the middle of the night for this or that, only to get carried gently back in by daddy (we think he is not even awake when this happens actually). And we joke that if this were a house, we'd all still be in the same room because the space from our bed, down the book nook, to his bed is still smaller than most master bedrooms in most suburban homes. I tell him, we ARE in the same room, just different beds.

(view from foot of his bed down the hull/ book book to the door of our cabin)

And he's getting ok with this. And so then it's lights out, radio on set to the classical station, flashlight on, and he is 100% ok with just falling asleep on his own.

Just in time, eh?