We have lived in this house for exactly five weeks and we are already moving kids around. This is a regular occurrence for this household, since the family dynamics are always shifting. Family members come and go, new babies arrive, sibling relationships change, and so do roommates.
Today's musical room game was not brought on by any of the above mentioned reasons. Today's juggle is courtesy of Parker and his new-found discovery of my bed. I have the world's most fabulous bed and Parker has discovered a weak link in his parents. I am usually so GOOD at crib training. At four months old I let the babies cry themselves to sleep and teach them very early on to stay in their bed all night long. I pride myself on fabulous sleepers that ALL go to their own bed and fall asleep on their own at bedtime! YAY me.
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Until Parker came into my life…..
This kid is going to be the death of me! He gets away with MURDER, and all because he is SO. DAMN. CUTE. ( Not that my other kids weren't as cute, but they may not have been so charming.) We tuck all the kids in at seven on a school night. Parker snuggles down, has his red blanket, aka "red," under his arm, and his thumb in his mouth, and we walk out the door. He doesn't make a peep. We think he is asleep, BUT by 7:20, he is sitting between us. He doesn't pitch a fit, or even cry, he just climbs quietly out of his crib, opens his door, tiptoes out of his room, dragging "red", thumb still in mouth, and climbs right on up on the couch where we are sitting. Brandon usually says, "What are you doing out of bed?" To which Parker signs, "later." And we just think he is the cats meow, so we let him hang with us for a bit and re-tuck him in "later."
Have I mentioned lately how damn cute he is?
Anyway, the past few nights this is happening at 1 am, 2 am, 4 am…. You get where I am going with this? And we are simply too tired to haul his butt back to bed, so he just snuggles in between and goes to sleep. I love sleeping with babies. The more the merrier. When I married Brandon, that all changed. Brandon came to this family with a "no kids in his bed" rule. I married him anyway. I told you all I made sacrifices, that was the ONE.
So Brandon is softening and Parker is gaining power over us very quickly.
In an effort to make Brandon's life easier, we are moving Parker into the nursery. It is attached to our room with it's own private staircase. He is going to join Ellie up there, and maybe that alone will make him think twice about leaving his crib. He will now, for the first time in his life, have a roommate.
This could end up being the biggest waste of time, or the best decision of our lives. I am not sure yet. But for now, I am off to move his crib down one flight of stairs and up another. If this move is a success, and Parker and Ellie share well together, and Parker stays in his crib, then I will probably move Ellie to Parker's room. Or, I may move Kate and Jazzi to that room and give Pickle her own room….. So many possibilities.
Stay tuned for more musical rooms as we still try and find the right place for everything and everyone in the new house.
After this morning's shuffle, this is the room situation.
Bronson and Hunter
Hadley
Jayden, Colby, and Jace
Jazzi, Kate, and Pickle
Empty room
Dalin and TY
Ellie and Parker in the nursery
Sailor Grace has fifteen more days of "up all night long, bottles when she wants them, half the night on her mom's chest because mom is too exhausted to walk ten feet to her crib," cushy life. AND then, we endure 4 days of hell, horror, and "thank God she is the last one," awful nights. But she will will come out knowing how to sleep all night long and will move upstairs to the nursery with her fellow siblings.
