Now that the boys are in a bunk bed, bedtime is a little easier. It is a lot more fun now. For some reason they both get pretty wound up right before bed, but reading a book with them can usually get them to settle down. While the top bunk officially started out as Gavin's, they take turns being up there. I still end up falling asleep with a book on my face on the bottom bunk with Garrett most nights.

Every now and then Gavin will have a nightmare and walk through the house looking for me, and if I'm in the bunk already, he just crawls in. He's been having more nightmares lately, and I think it could be just stress from school. He doesn't have the ability to tell me about his dreams in great detail, but I can make a few intuitive assumptions. It isn't "Where the Wild Things Are". Thank God he's over that one. He has a lot of stress in his Kindergarten life, being a child with autism in a class of 26 "neuro-typical" (normal) kids.

They are both great at sleeping. I would bet a large sum that they could sleep through a category 5 hurricane! Unlike the baby, Bodie. He wakes up at the slightest squeaky door hinge or cat meow. When he is taking a nap, the house has to be in deep silence mode - ringers off, t.v. muted, etc. When he is awake, nothing gets accomplished around here. All productivity occurs at naptime and very early morning!

I took this picture the other morning when I woke the boys up for school. I thought it was so sweet. Apparently Gavin had one of his nightmares and just crawled into the bottom bunk with his little brother during the night. Garrett doesn't realize it yet, but he'll probably be his big brother's protector throughout their lives. Gavin is lucky Garrett was born with a compassionate soul, a comforting aura, and an optimistic attitude. 

Our little toddler, Garrett, has been having nightmares lately. I'm not sure why. He doesn't see anything scary on TV - we almost never even watch TV! They say you need to have a good, calming routine before bed. Bedtime is almost always the same regimen - Bath, Brush teeth, Books, Bed. The books we read are good, funny bedtime books! Sandra Boynton, not Steven King. I don't know what's causing these scary dreams. I've read different articles about the subject, but haven't found any real solution to the problem. Since he is the middle child,  we've been keenly guarding his self esteem, we make sure he gets plenty of flattery, because a low self esteem seems to be the culprit in a lot of toddler issues. He is a real pistol - a typical 2, I guess.

It would be easier to figure out how to deal with the nightmare if he could tell me what its about. Usually he's semi-sleeping and crying when I ask him to tell me about his dream. One time he said "The twuck... the twuck!"
I can presume he's talking about my truck, but what am I supposed to say, "The truck won't get you"? I'd rather have him keep a healthy fear of cars and trucks. I've scolded him twice for going into the road on his trike. I always tell him "the cars will hurt you!" Thats probably the cause of that nightmare. If his fear was a monster or something, I would be able to tackle that problem for sure. Well, maybe.

Dealing with this makes me remember when I was little. I was scared of E.T. I had lots of nightmares about that little critter. The worst one I can still remember very vividly, it was so scary! In my dream, I was in my bed and E.T. was hiding between the bed and the wall - then he raised his head up with that weird, telescoping neck of his and looked at me! Zoiks! I woke up screaming, scrambling out of the bed to get away, when my foot got tangled in the sheet and I fell flat on my face. Talk about full panic! I had never crawled so fast in my life - straight across the hall to my parents' bedroom door, and it was locked! All the while, in my mind E.T. was right behind me, ready to get me with that terrible glowing finger. I just remember standing at the door, pounding with both fists until my dad rescued me - and brought me into their room for the night. I did not want to go back into my room, even after dad checked it all over for extra terrestrials.

I'm glad that I remember how it feels to be terrorized by a nightmare so young. It is a very real feeling. When you're that young, there isn't a difference between dreams and reality. I think its important for parents to remember that, and take your children's fears seriously. After my E.T. nightmare, I was convinced E.T. was still in my room, waiting for me. I refused to go back in there. I remember how awed I was at how my dad just fearlessly walked into my room and turned on the light. It was like he was an invincible superhero, exuding confidence as he spoke into my room, saying something like  "E.T. Don't ever touch my son! Never come into my house again!" It made me feel a whole lot better, and I think the next night I was okay to sleep alone again.

Dads need to be like superheroes for their kids. I didn't want to hear "It was just a dream, get over it, go back to bed." I wanted my dad to go in there and get rid of my nightmare - which he did. Every parent wields amazing superpowers. It is knowing how and when to use them that counts.

The transition from crib to bed isn't supposed to be easy, is it? Garrett has (almost) taken right to it! He loves sleeping in his little bed. The boys have a trundle bed from Ikea, very comfortable! Gavin is on the high part and Garrett gets the roll out bed. The problem is this: he has learned that he's free to roam the house at night if he chooses. I'm not sure if babies can sleepwalk or what, but he comes out of their room sometimes with a glazed look in his eye. He just wanders around. The other night I found him standing at the couch, sleeping with his face down in the cushion, sippy in hand. Weird! Does anybody know what is up with this? I'm afraid he's going to hurt himself some night. Thank God he can't unlock the doors, he'd probably meander on down the road if he could. He does it almost every night. He's scared me to death a couple times. I've opened my eyes at 2 a.m. to see him crouching like a gargoyle on the hope chest at the foot of the bed, a "Gotcha Daddy" grin on his face.

We use the Super Nanny technique of taking him back to the bed without saying a word, so he doesn't turn it into a game. It seems to work! That Super Nanny is awesome. I just wish Garrett would stay in bed all night! I don't want to put up a gate at their door, since we're also trying to get Gavin to use the potty at night on his own. This gives me a couple more t-shirt ideas: "Night Prowler" or "The baby that never sleeps" ...maybe?

Other than his nightly wanderings, Garrett is a great little sleeper. I can't really complain about either of my boys' sleeping habits. I've heard some real horror stories from other parents trying to make the transition. For Gavin's transition from the crib, we bought a bed tent that looked like a ladybug, since he was used to a crib that had a mesh tent over it. Sara found it on Amazon, I think. It had nice little pockets to hold the sippy cups inside. Gavin loved that part. So when we had to take the tent away and move Garrett to the trundle bed, I took Gavin to Target and bought some 99¢ car cup holders for him. They hook right on the bed. Sweet! He was so thrilled with his new cup holders, he didn't even notice the ladybug was gone. He finally got to enjoy the big green wall leaf thing (also from Ikea!) that hovers over the bed. I remember the first night for Gavin without the tent. We tucked him in and asked how he liked his new bed. "Green leaf." he said with a twinkle. You gotta love that!