FoxMom23's Blog

    So now it's official... my baby is no longer a baby anymore. If you're wondering what makes it official, I'll tell you. It's not that he can walk on his own, or feed himself, or have dinner in a restaurant and remain pretty much in control of himself. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he could most likely easily kick his older brother's butt, if he needed or wanted to.  It's not any of these things, although some people would think of these as good indicators. No, what makes it official for me is the fact that as of yesterday he no longer sleeps in a crib, but now sleeps in a "big boy bed". When my older son transitioned from crib to bed, it wasn't so hard on me, because we had the younger one who was indeed still a baby at that point. But now that the younger has also transitioned out of the crib... well, there are no babies left, just little boys working their way into big boyhood. (Of course, I really wouldn't mind if the older one learned to use the potty and thereby bumped himself into big boyhood quicker than he's getting there right now!)!! But that’s another story for another time.  :) 

     Now, transitioning our younger son to a big boy bed meant that I had to do a little room shifting along the way, due to the setup of his room, which also serves as the guest room. So my husband and I decided for now to move him into his brother’s bedroom and have them share a room. So far this seems to be working out pretty well. Although our older son doesn’t really take naps now, and spends entirely too much time talking and singing out loud before he falls asleep at night, the younger one manages to sleep through this (a truly remarkable feat, in my opinion). Naturally this is a very good thing, since one of our biggest worries about them sharing a room was the older one keeping the younger one awake.  

      In the very short time that they’ve been sharing a room (24 hours), my husband and I have discovered quite a few benefits of their room sharing, including only having to listen to one monitor instead of two; and being able to do the entire bedtime routine in one room, instead of having them run back and forth between rooms trying to decide whose room they want to be changed in, and in whose room they want to be read to, and whose rocking chair the youngest one wants to sit in to rock. But the best thing about them sharing a room, at least in my opinion, is listening to them talk with each other until one or both falls asleep. 

     My sister and I shared a room for a while when we were younger (a little older than my boys, however), and I easily remember my parents reading to us, shutting our light off and telling us to go to sleep. And as soon as that light went out, and that door got shut, the talking began. Mom and Dad would always try to get us to stop talking… but that only got us going more. See, one of them would say something like “Girls I don’t want to hear another peep out of you,” or “Don’t us let us hear one more sound.” Our reactions to these statements were “Peep”, and “One more sound”, respectively, and then the giggle fit would begin. I’m not sure how funny our parents thought it was then, but looking back now I’m pretty sure we can all find the humor in it!! 

     So, it was with these memories in mind that I sat last night, eagerly listening to the boys have their little chat. Now, obviously they are too young for us to tell them we don’t want to hear another peep, and have them respond like my sister and I did, but I’m sure that day will come sooner than later. In the meantime, they seem to be content saying “night night” to each other, with the older one telling the younger to sleep tight. And if the younger doesn’t respond, then the older one will prompt him with “say night night brother.” I’m sure the conversation will be differ as the nights go on and they get more and more used to sharing a room, and I eagerly look forward to eavesdropping on all those conversations (maybe even with a tape recorder handy), thanks to a wonderful invention called a baby monitor!! :)

    I have to admit, just as good as listening to them at night, was listening to them wake up this morning and talk to each other, before they came into our room. (Luckily, their room is right across the hall from ours, so I was also able to watch them too. And I have to tell you, the whole thing was entirely too cute!!! It was a nice way to wake up! Now, if only every morning could start off with them waking up in good moods, happy to see each other, and getting along so well….  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how long it lasts!!!!