Down the Rabbit Hole

Jaden's Private Galaxy

The holiday season seemed to stretch well beyond the allotted calendar days this year and so it has taken us a bit longer to get our routines back on track. My resolution to get Jaden to fall asleep in her own bed has been delayed. She is however, delighted by her newly renovated "big girl" bed complete with the new Minnie Mouse sheets and comforter. She will happily play, read and even snuggle down in it without any coaxing at all. Ask her to go to sleep in it though, and the crying commences. And her tears are not those fake sniffles and boo-hoos, but those really tortured wails and sobs that only a toddler with a broken heart can produce. Jaden still prefers to fall asleep, snuggled in close against us, with her tiny hands wrapped around one or more of our fingers. Honestly, I'm okay with that. Aside from the nights when I fall asleep with her, her nightly routine is workable. Once she's sleeping, we simply move her to her own bed - or not. Sometimes its easier to let her stay where she is, avoiding the dreaded three am wake up call that comes when she wakes and finds herself alone. Sometimes the very best part of my day is cuddling with her under the blankets are night, looking up at a ceiling full of purple glowing stars. This year her grandfather gave her a Twilight Ladybug for Christmas. It has become a marvelous edition to bedtime in our house. It projects a field of starts, in your choice of three colors, onto the ceilings and walls. It has a wonderful calming effect, there is something peaceful about this private galaxy with its tiny crescent-shaped moon and constellations. Often the very best part of my day is cuddling under the blankets with my daughter and gazing up at our ceiling of stars until her baby blues get droopy. I don't think there is better lullaby for me then the sound of her deep and peaceful breathing. Time is moving at such an unforgiving pace. She is growing up so quickly, shedding all things "baby" and morphing into a little girl before I have a chance to prepare myself. Before I know it, she won't want to share my bed. She will want to be in her own bed in her own room, a room that will begin to look less like a nursery and more like the place a burgeoning young adult will make a home. For now, I'm content if she wants to stowaway in Mommie's room. I'm okay if she wanders in, her stuffed lion tucked under her arm, and wants me to make a space for her between her Dad and I. These are all but brief moments in our journey together and these moments are some of the sweetest. I've decided to enjoy them for as long as I am able. I think we'll shift our energy to some potty training and leave the sleep training where it is for now.