Terrible 2's Are Upon Us!

Well, we've actually been dealing with it for quite some time, but it's really be at full blast lately! He's been cutting his 2-year molars for quite some time now and that hasn't helped any. He's been working on #3 for a week and it's STILL NOT IN!!! I'll be SO glad when they're all through!

I think he's starting his own bedtime ritual. For the most part up until recently, he's been GREAT at going to bed easily! His routine would go as follows: changing his diaper & clothes, giving him a small amount of milk, brushing his teeth, saying "night night" to Daddy, reading a couple of books, saying his bedtime prayer and then going down in his crib while awake. For the past 1-2 weeks now, though, he INSISTS on getting his milk in his room while reading and then me rocking him in the dark until he falls asleep. I deliberately put him down awake all his life so we WOULDN'T start a habit of needing me to rock him to sleep. I don't mind doing that occasionally. I just don't want him to become dependent on it.

He spent Saturday night at Richard's in Nashville and went to church up there this morning. I figured he'd either get a nap on the car ride home after church or after getting home. Unfortunately, he wouldn't have any part of taking a nap AT ALL! As a result, I believe the devil was making an appearance in our household this evening!!! I tried to get him to bed early, but once again, he wanted me to rock him to sleep. However, even though we were sitting in the dark with the radio on and me rocking him and not saying anything, he was still trying to carry on a conversation with me. So, I got fed up and just laid him in his crib. For about 5 minutes, I thought he was going to be fine. Then, he started WAILING. I tried not to go into his room, but since he's now climbing the railing (and getting stuck on top), I was worried, so had to go check. From there, it just all went downhill. I started the bedtime routine around 8:00 tonight and he didn't go to sleep until about 9:15!!! He finally gave it up when I stood up and swayed him while he was holding Big Teddy (the HUGE teddy bear that's now his best buddy thanks to Granddaddy! ). That probably took less than 2 minutes! I sure wish it had worked the first time I tried it!

I really hope the cause of him boycotting his naps and not wanting to go to bed is just a phase or a result of his new teeth coming in! I really don't want this to be a new trend!!!