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Sunday, January 11, 2009

First "sleepover"

Henry has been asking for a sleepover, so two nights ago I made the mistake of telling him: "We can't do it tonight, but we'll do it tomorrow." What a boneheaded move: everyone that knows that child knows that he doesn't forget ANYTHING. So, lo and behold, after I tucked him in last night and got snuggled in on the couch, I heard him calling down to me:

"Daddy! Daddy!"

I went up to see what was the matter, and to remind him that he should only be calling to me when he's in trouble. He let me know that (1) I forgot to put his night light up on his loft and (2) that I forgot about sleepover. D'oh!

So I made him a deal: I'd lay down in his room until he fell asleep.

It was actually a very surreal experience. I got to see Henry's room after hours. I got to see what he sees right before he goes to sleep. It was very much Henry's world. I had visions of how this is going to work when he's 15 (and I shuddered). And I got definitive proof that our little dude has a really hard time settling down and going to bed. He tosses. He turns. He kicks. He readjusts. He whispers. He repeats the whole process. And finally, he falls asleep.

He made sure to tell me this morning that he was awake when I snuck out last night. A very Henryesque comment, to be sure.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe that I got to be the first "sleepover" guest in Henry's "new" room bunkbeds (or is that sleep-under) but I totally agree that he is quite the flopping fish before closing his eyes... the small whisper of "Gramma, are you asleep?" in the midst of his thrashing with my calm response "Time to sleep Henry". My biggest smile came when I awoke before Henry and I just lingered below getting to listen to him wake up and hear his morning self-chatter when he finally remembered I was below him and that little whisper again "Gramma, you awake?" I'm thinking: Who could sleep with all that racket going on overhead? Hahaha

James, Rachel and Tenzin said...

It's one of my favorite experiences. The Z and I nap together on Fridays and right before I feel him finally relax, I open my eyes and watch him slowly nod off. There is no greater peace.