It's not enough that I want to re-paint the room from the nice generic yellows and greens that were used for Courtney into a nice calming smokey blue, creams, and whites. Nooooooo. I decide that we need to replace the baseboard heater with a wall heater, replace the light with a ceiling fan, and, oh! while we're at it, let's just get rid of the popcorn ceiling too! Of course, I'M the pregnant one. So I get to dictate, but not actually do any of the work. The poor souls who call themselves my family get the distinct opportunity to do my bidding.
So, yesterday, to my great delight, Elisha and Nathan set off to get rid of the popcorn on the baby's room ceiling. Surprisingly (according to Elisha) it came off much easier than anticipated. So, rather than being a several day project, they had that entire ceiling stripped by evening and even had time to go to the park for a couple hours after dinner! Not-so-surprisingly, the entire process was a HUGE mess! And, because it is still Courtney's room, they had all of her furniture to contend with during the process. Finally, when it was time to put Courtney down for the night, we decide it was no use. That room was not suitable for a 16-month child to sleep in. The toddler was going to have to sleep with "mommy and daddy" tonight. With great trepidation, I took my little toddler into my room for the night. As soon as she discovered that she was NOT sleeping in her lonely crib for the night, but instead having a sleepover with her much-adored parents, Courtney began to giggle. A HUGE grin spread over her face, she chose the biggest pillow right in the middle of our giant king size bed, and snuggled in for the night with her perma-grin on her face. I began to think that this wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. Courtney can stay on her side of the bed (the middle) and KC and I can sleep on our sides. No need to even touch the whole night long, right? WRONG.
2 1/2 hours later KC and I came to bed for the night only to discover that our sweet little angel had shifted and turned herself so that her tiny little body was stretched as far as it could possibly stretch in all directions from the very center of the bed. KC gently maneuvered her back to her appropriate spot, we climbed into bed, and then....HELL began.
Our jostling of the bed woke Courtney just enough to realize that her parents were in bed and she began to grin again. Courtney began to twist and turn and squirm until she had her head touching my back and her feet in KC's side. OK, that's not too terrible. I can put up with that. I rolled over onto my side and tried to make the best of an uncomfortable situation. As soon as I moved, she decided that she wanted Mommy more and immediately snuggled her head into my back so that I couldn't move. I was pinned between a little girl, trying not to crush her, and the very edge of the bed trying not to fall off. And thus was the beginning of what was to be a VERRRRRRRY long night. Every time I moved, she nestled closer. Sometimes I'd wake up with a foot in my face...or her rump (her favorite position). Occasionally I'd open my eyes only to see her tiny little cherubic face literally centimeters from mine, breatheing her hot breaths into my nose (for a pregnant lady, that's sheer torture!). But the straw that broke the camels back came at 4:30 in the morning, after waking up for the umpteenth time only to discover that she, AGAIN, had her feet dug into my back, my arms, legs and very pregnant belly were hanging over the edge of the bed, and my entire body was tensed up trying not to fall out of bed. Enough is enough! I drug myself out of bed, climbed onto the the living room couch and had the best 30 minutes sleep a person can have before having to wake up for another looooong day of preparing for baby.
This morning I woke up with a strong resolve to get Courtney's room cleaned, whatever the cost! Because I was NOT going to spend another sleepless night at the mercy of my little Cuddlebug!!
My daughter is the same way...because of circumstances, we co-sleep or whatever every night. Since she was born, she has had to touch me somehow, either a foot or hand. She will reach for me if I move. If, perchance, I am out of bed she literally hunts me down. In the hospital at 0330 I went to the nurses station to ask some questions. Out of the blue I hear "Mommy? What the hell are you doing here?" Of course, beat red, we returned to her room!
ReplyDelete