Then we got a puppy named LaFawnduh who took up some of that space and sometimes punched, kicked or breathed on us. But she was a great snuggler, so we rolled with it. Then a puppy named Kip came into the picture and he pretty much ruined it. Once there were two 90-pound dogs in there with us, well, it didn't feel so spacious...especially when Kip decided laying on top of one of us was a good place to rest his weary head. We were one small, not-as-rested family, but hey, talk about a first world problem.
Once Lindsay came along, we were used to our king bed feeling pretty small. She didn't sleep with us much, but sometimes sleep deprivation calls for desperate measures. And it surely beat crawling into her crib of toddler bed.
You might be wondering where the musical beds come in. Well, let me introduce our sleep terrorist, Charlie.
Oh, sure. Looks cute, huh? Wait....is that a dog playing football? That is cute.
Charlie has spent most of his 17 months (Side tangent. I can't WAIT for him to turn 2 so I can stop pretending I know how many months he is. Why can't I just say he's 1?) being a pretty darn good sleeper. In fact, it isn't unheard of for him to actually walk himself to his crib waiting for us to put him in. Sure, he gets up earlier than his sister ever did, but for the past 6 months or so he'll go to bed, maybe cry once in the middle of the night for a bottle and that's it.
Lately, not so much. Sure, he's been sick. But who isn't, kid? This alleged sickness (or terroristic behavior, more likely) has created some interesting sleeping situations with him. Previously mentioned king bed? Check. Floor? Check. Couch? Check. And his current favorite? Recliner. 3 out of the past 5 nights one of us has ended up there with him.
And while that is wonderful in and of itself, the biggest of the small ones has begun an almost nightly ritual in the past few weeks of waking up in the middle of the night and sneaking into bed with us like a ninja....of course kicking, punching and breathing all over us. She even commented a couple mornings ago, "Mom, you and Dad were really a couple of blanket-hogs last night."
So sorry for the inconvenience, kid.
With all this bed switching happening most nights, we've mostly lost those dog snuggles. Sure, they may spend an hour or two in there, but as soon as those kiddos arrive, they are smart enough to get the hell out of there and find other arrangements...often in the vacated beds/rooms of the small ones.
Once the lights go out these days, the Best house is a noisy, long symphony. I, for one, am very much looking forward to it going back to the days of the house quartet....dog breath and all.
