Thursday, November 13, 2008

Nap time?







I would have to be hard pressed to figure out something I enjoy more than the few minutes before Daniel goes down for his nap/bedtime. Its a hard feeling to describe but I will do my best. There is a process to getting Daniel to take a nap. Sometimes its a quick process and sometimes its a bit lengthier than we'd like. :)

There is a confession in this post, one that I would generally say I am not too proud of, but one that even though most parents would think its wrong....I love. At the age of 3 yrs old. Daniel is still put to bed. We don't put him in a bed and tell him its nap time or anything like that. We go and we lay down with him. We snuggle, and we pat his butt or back until he falls asleep. And yes. He. still. sleeps. in. our. bed.

When he started having seizures we freaked out, and he slept with us. so we could be there and no if anything happened....and well from then on....its just been the way it is.

Ok, I think that is two confessions, but oh well.

Anyways nothing has a better feeling than him inching his way over to you and curling up against you. It takes a lot of movement for him to get over to you and once he does, he just sucks it up. his face right up to your face. Once this happens though one must be careful. Daniel has this weird obsession with being nose to nose with you and if you should fall asleep, he'll lean his head back slightly and try to suckle on your cheekbone or better yet the tip of your nose. Don't ask why....we don't know. BUT, I can say I have woken up to this a few times and he starts laughing his butt off! Of course, I have also woken up to him starting to do it and he accidentally nips the end of the nose....that hurts (for future reference).

When he does this little trick of his it reminds me of a little kitten that has been taken away from its mother too soon and is just looking for anything to suck on. Its actually pretty funny. Weird but funny. Something we won't let him live down when he grows up!

Anyways, one of us always goes to lay down with him until he falls asleep and then we get back up. It is so very endearing when I have my arm over him patting his back, we are nose to nose, and he flops his arm over my shoulder and tries to pat my back. Or he just tries to pull me closer (perhaps with the hidden agenda of getting me close enough to nose suck!).

Lonnie often says to me, we should just put him in bed and let him fall asleep himself...yeah ok sure. We've created a monster I think. Lonnie also says....what are you gonna do when he's 12? and I just look at him and say, "I'll be patting him on the back and rockin' him to sleep if he wants me too."

Whose got who tied around their finger??

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

you have def. created a bad habit that will be very hard to break. the nose sucking... strange. but i too love to cuddle with my daniel so i understand. catch 22... what to do?-me

Justinich Family said...

One more thing we have in common Melanie. Evan gets to either sleep in bed with me or daddy, or he lays in his bed with one of us and we leave when he falls asleep. He is sleeping much better now that he is on his new seizure med, but if in his own bed he will wake up crying until I come get him. I am hoping one day he just stays in his bed all night. A girl can dream right.

Danielle said...

I'm jealous! *smile*

C said...

Hey, Q still nurses, so as far as I'm concerned, you're waaaay ahead of the game! It's only for a little bit, and it's not every night, but it's most nights and something he seems to need as a neurological transition from awake to asleep. For what it's worth, Q's therapy people think it would be a bad idea to let a kid with his diagnosis fuss or cry it out.

So... Good for you!! :o)

Kathryn said...

OMG that is the cutest sweetest thing. We are bad too - Ellie falls asleep on one of use each night on the couch with the TV off and lights down low after we sing the song. Then we bring her up and lay beside her if she happens to wake on the trip from couch to bed. It may be a bad habit but it sure is a sweet one and she is really happy snuggling in each night like she would like to stay there permanently. AND she has started to have stretches where she sleeps through the night in her own bed for 7-8 hours a stretch. Daniel is a lucky kid - so loved. Very sweet. you guys rock!

Katy said...

The only reason Charlie isn't in my bed is because I had to put my foot down. We had a baby, and a cat, and a dog, and there was no room for me! He still sleeps in our room, though. Like you, I want to be there if something scary happens in the middle of the night.