A Note to Self

About 5 minutes after putting James to bed last night he started crying.  He did this the night before, too, saying that he wanted Daddy to put him to bed, and I think he just decided he'd try it again.  KJ walked back to his room, but came back quickly as I was the one in demand tonight.  

James is such a sweet boy, I really didn't mind.  He was waiting for me in the rocking chair.  Every night since he was 11 months old he's had the same bedtime routine.  We put him up with his head on our shoulder, rock and sing a song, then lay him down in his bed.  This routine continued on without variation for about 18 months, but a while back he changed it up a bit.  He started lying across the recliner/rocker, and I would stand above him and rock the chair, singing Jesus Loves Me.  

When we converted his crib to a toddler bed this past summer, he also wanted to climb in bed by himself and not be placed there, and the routine changed a little bit again for a time where he would sit up straight and tall in the chair by himself, rocking, while I stood a couple of feet away singing.  My little boy was growing.  Oh, but wait!  There was one more change.  He started requesting the "Winnie the Pooh song" instead of his traditional Jesus Loves Me.  Every night I'd sing, "Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood where Christopher Robin plays...".  

Several weeks ago, I just needed to cuddle him for a minute, so I told him I was going to hold him that night.  He climbed up in the familiar position, the position he was in when I wrote THIS post so long ago.  His feet dangle off the front of the chair now, but it feels much the same.  I think James enjoyed the familiar, too, because we're back to me holding him at bedtime every night.  I sing a few bars of Winnie the Pooh, then put him down on the floor, and he climbs in bed.

Last night I found him waiting for me in the rocking chair.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

There was a lot of mumbling, because I don't think there was anything really and truly wrong, but then I heard, "Bed again," which really just meant, "I want you to put me to bed again."  I started rocking, and he said, "Rock!"  "I am rocking."  "Sing!"

Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood where Christopher Robin plays, you'll find the enchanted neighborhood of Christopher's childhood days...    

As I rocked and sang, I found myself wanting to remember that I always rocked James in the upright position, while Ella was swayed while in the cradle position.  She never really liked rocking.  And now this is much more writing than I originally intended, but when you wake up at 5:50 a.m. on a Saturday, what else can you do?