Are You Sleeping, Brother John?

 When Dominic was a little baby, not so long ago in my mind I would like to add, I sang various versions of the song: Are You Sleeping, Brother John?.  Only, obviously substituting "Dom" for "John", because I am just that clever.  Now that we have an actual Brother John, this song has taken on a whole new life in my mind.  Especially after the month we just had with our insomniac, John.   There is a reason that it has been nearly a month since I last blogged.  Sure we had family come to visit.  My love/hate relationship with the smartphone that is currently my only picture taking device is ongoing.  And, of course, Rio has taken over our house.

 But, ultimately it is because around the time of the last blog post, we moved John from the crib and into what is colloquially referred to as a "big boy bed".  Not so much because he is a big boy (though he is, as my back can attest every time I forget to lift with the legs), but because he had grown quite adept at climbing over the sides in a precarious fashion that probably would eventually have led to the complete destruction of the pack 'n play or his getting a pretty serious goose egg on his head from landing head first on a toy that someone had neglected to see when their mother asked them to 'tidy' her room. 

 One such Sunday, John had escaped his crib during what should have been his nap, so Eric went up to the local mattress store, bought the last twin mattress, and we reconfigured the room a bit so that now we have two twin bunk beds (this mainly consisted of me having to come to terms with a couple of boxes of clothes that I had been telling Eric that I would eventually get to sorting.  The terms I came to were stuffing them full, putting lids on them and shoving them under the beds: Mission Complete!

 Everyone was super excited to have John in a full twin bed.  John was even more excited than anyone else.  And for the first time in 4 kids, he did not balk at bedtime.  But, hopped right in and promptly went to sleep.  Awesome!  The other kids had sort of freaked out at the absence of bars when we transitioned them from the crib.  Kind of like the poor guys depicted in Shawshank Redemption when they are finally released from jail.  They each spent a few more nights in some variation of a crib just to get use to the idea.  Not, John!  He was ready!

Except the freedom was too great.  After that first night, he could just not bring himself to stay in the bed.  He'd lay down and we'd look at the super cool light display that came from a pink unicorn of Molly's.  The lights transition from orange to green to blue.  We'd say the colors

Mom (the color is green and we just practiced orange): What color is that?

John: Is that orange?

Mom: No, try again

John: Is that apple?

We will continue to work on colors and apparently the difference between adjectives and nouns.
He would point out the various stars and moon and giant unicorn that was displayed on the ceiling.  It was really sweet for about 5 minutes...then it got a little not so sweet.  Almost like he was using a delaying tactic.  I was on to him, but that didn't mean he stayed in his bed. 

I tried many of the tricks from my bag.  Okay, I tried two.  First, I had proclaimed that the hours between 1 and 3 were quiet time.  EVERYONE would lay in their beds quietly. They could read and listen to soft music, but no one could talk.  This worked out well the first day, so I thought: Success!  Plus, the older kids would definitely benefit from some quiet time in the afternoon. And they did, I think everyone took a nap at least once during this trial...except John after the first day.

Then I tried what worked for Dom as he made the transition.  I use to put Will down for a nap and then put on the movie Cars for Dom.  He and I would snuggle on the couch and he'd be out in 5 minutes.  So would I for that matter.  It was a glorious time of my motherhood.  So, I got John all snuggled on my bed and put on a quiet episode of Super Why! This has been successful a couple of days.  But, definitely not consistently. On the upside, he does know several letters.

Yet, here's the thing, even when I get him to take a nap...he may sleep far too long and then he would not go to bed when he was suppose to.  Or, more often, he finally passes out from exhaustion around 4, which is way too late (or too early if you were hoping he'd just fall asleep at 6 for the night).  At bedtime he'd lay down, discuss the light show on the ceiling, say good night, even close his eyes for good measure...and just as Eric and I are settled in for our evening break...we hear the door open and the pitter patter of tiny feet and then get the cheery hello and smile that John is becoming known for. Sweet, sweet, John...GO TO SLEEP!

There has been one success story, he is a pretty active sleeper.  As such, he had been falling out of his bed.  I know, right?  You finally get him to sleep and then he wakes up to a crash.  I did a little research on guard rails, when I read a review on Amazon that said just to put a pool noodle under the mattress pad and fitted sheet.  Genius!  No more night time crashes! 

And, after nearly a month of being in this new bed, he is getting use to it and doesn't feel a need to climb out as often.  I haven't found a consistent nap technique.  Though, he is taking them more often, only I just will find him passed out on various pieces of furniture. Sometimes as early as 11, but often after 3...and he will not wake up! I jostle him, tickle him, stand him up...and he just goes right back to sleep.  But, he is staying in his bed at night more. 

There were a couple of days last week he took late naps.  I let the kids stay up a bit longer to watch the Olympics, and sent them to bed about 8:45.  Eric was out of town, so I went to bed, too.  John joined me about 8:47.  I turned off all the lights and pretended I was asleep...he eventually got the message and requested to be taken back to his bed.  This happened two nights, the first time it was 9:45, the second it was 9:15.  #progress  Yesterday he took a long nap with Bowser and after a couple of run-ins with Eric, he remained in bed.  He was still awake at 10 when Eric went in to check on him, but quiet and still.  This beat a previous night when he was up at 10 with a flashlight roaming the hall...

We are figuring it out, so I think we'll keep him. He is just lucky I'm a sucker for curly hair and a sunny smile.