Appreciating Rogan

Sometimes this is easy, and sometimes this is hard. I'm sure many people can relate. We live with a very stubborn, very smart, and very cute (most of the time) almost 2-year old. This means:

He will throw fits

He will insist on having things his way. -mommy i want your hand HERE!!!

He will do things on his terms -rogan do you want a blankie? -no, i want a blankie. -ok

He will respond NO before you finish the question, then think about it, then give you the real answer.

He will come get you in the middle of the night.

The last one is what I've been struggling with for the past month. What to do, how to handle him, and trying to do what's best for him in the long run. And there are no clear answers out there.

We are not letting Rogan sleep in our bed, so we take him back to his bed. Occasionally I've tried to lay with him in the guest bed (since he wants to sleep ON ME), but more and more he wants to be in his room. Which is GREAT!! We have been trying to get him attached to his room, so it's our own doing. But I cannot lay in the toddler bed with him, so either we end up on the floor, in the chair, swaying, or me leaning uncomfortably over him.

Last night it took 2 hours for him to go to sleep again. and he threw in a fit in the middle to keep things interesting. No Rogan, you do not get to go downstairs for juice in the middle of the night. If you are thirsty, here is a drink of water. Yelling, crying, and hitting ensued. But eventually he took a drink of water, calmed down, and was back in bed. Though I left too quickly and he got up 60 seconds after I left, and we started all over. This time no fit, and I stayed to make sure he was passed out. So I crawled back into bed at 4:40am. My alarm went off at 5:30am, and I'm a little sluggish today. The hot shower I took was amazing. Just me, the water, and a calming surrounding. And as I got ready and headed out the door he was still asleep. I haven't heard from Ryan yet this morning... I should soon. I'm hoping he slept for a while to catch up.

So in the 2 hours of quality time last night, while I wasn't HAPPY about it, I had some time to ponder the situation we are in. What it came down to was Rogan just wants to be near me. And I'm becoming ok with that. We taught him as an infant to self soothe and he cried in the middle of the night because he didn't get a bottle, but it was 3 nights and then he slept through great. Do we do that now? how so? lock his door? gate it? hmm, I dont like either of those options. I'd rather put him back in bed, stay for a few minutes to make sure he's good to go, and leave. Of course a few minutes last night was 2 hours. But eventually he will get the point. We are also trying to back up a little each night so we are not right with him, but still in the room. Eventually the goal is to be out of the room. But I know we are a little away from that.

So we have some sleepless nights in the future... I'm sleeping less now than I did when he was an infant! But I think he needs this, and eventually he will sleep all night. And eventually I'm sure I will miss these 2:30am cuddles.