Bedtime

Jonah's new bed has been a bit of a challenge. He enjoys the freedom he has to climb in and out of his bed all by himself. This means that I have a difficult time making him stay in his bed. I normally have to threaten to put him in his pack-n-play, where he cannot climb in and out by himself (also known as the port-a-prison).

When I tell Jonah it's time to go to bed, he happily climbs into bed and assesses the stuffed animal situation. He takes a look at his animals to make sure that at least a few of his favorites are already in bed (Dog, Elephant Pillow, Horse, Owl, Duckie, Rat, Lamb and Alligator). Occasionally, he'll miss a particular animal, climb out of bed and look for it. Then, Jonah assesses Genna's stuffed animal situation. There are a few stuffed animals that belong to Genna that Jonah really likes (Bunny, Bear with Red Shirt—not to be confused with Pooh Bear—the actual Pooh Bear, and Bear—another one). Fortunately, Genna is really only attached to Elephant. I think that Jonah knows this, so he never goes after Elephant. If Jonah determines that he is not satisfied with his stuffed animals, he'll climb out of bed and take one of Genna's animals. If Genna is in her bed, there might be a small squabble, but they usually come to a compromise. The kids are surprisingly good at negotiating for stuffed animals. If Jonah tries to take an animal that Genna really wants at that moment in time, she can usually find a substitute animal that Jonah will be happy with.

After the stuffed animal situation is satisfactory, Jonah then gets into his "play" mode where he looks for a few toys, tries to put them in his bed, or tries to play games with Genna, such as tossing a stuffed animal back and forth, but since neither of them can consistently toss an animal to the other's bed, this results in a few more times that Jonah is in an out of his bed. Genna (who never gets out of bed once she is in it), then starts telling Jonah that he has to get back in bed. After this goes on for a few minutes, I usually have to step in and threaten the pack-n-play. Eventually, though, Jonah usually gives up (or just gets tired enough) and stays in his bed. He tosses and turns for a while, but eventually falls into that baby-slumber where he looks so innocent and adorable. Finally, success for me.

A little playtime before bed

Zoom! Zoom!

Tonight's dinner: Lebanese flatbread salad with hummus. It wasn't easy finding sumac. I am really going to miss my Lebanese cookbook when I have to return it to the library.