my son turned 2 yesterday
Pictures later, first a story...
Indy has never had an easy time falling asleep. Over the past 2 years we have tried giving him different things to help him, but none of them worked. First we tried a blankie. But Indy made it quite clear that he hated blankets of all shapes and sizes. We tried stuffed animals. Indy now takes 2 stuffed animals to bed with him (Pooh bear and Hop hop), but he doesn't hold them. He simply says good night to them and lays them on the bed.
I guess no one can tell you what will help you feel safe and secure in this world, no one can give you a magic item to help you fall asleep at night (unless it's a prescription for Ambien). You have to find it for yourself.
For the uninitiated a "lovie" is the thing that a child uses to comfort them, help them fall asleep, or to feel better. Indy did not have one of these until recently. He chose his own, and he made a very unusual choice.
The lovie he chose for himself is the mole on my wrist. Yes, the mole on my wrist. Now I put my arm around him in bed and he rubs his finger around my mole as he falls asleep. When he falls down, I pick him up, and his hand instinctively goes to my wrist. He has to make sure my mole is still there. Sometimes I can feel him looking for it in the middle of the night, running his little hand along my arm, trying to find my hand, trying to find my wrist. And I gently move my arm so he can find it. And then he falls back to sleep. We even had to have a little talk about the difference between "petting" and "scratching." And I am just a little bit nervous about him accidentally ripping it off.
It is so strange, so bizarre, so unexpected. But yet it also the most amazing thing in the whole world. It makes my eyes water just thinking about how much someone could need me, how much I could provide that comfort, that feeling of security for someone else. The thing that I'd found lacking in my life until I met Scott. I am that thing. I am that safety. I am that for someone else. And I love that. And I cherish that.
And yesterday he told me he loved me, for the very first time.
Yesterday he was very tired as we were leaving Hershey Gardens, so I picked him up. He is more than half my size, but I held onto him. He laid his head on my shoulder, eyes fluttering closed. And his little fingers crept down my arm looking for my mole. I told him, "that's the wrong arm baby." And he turned himself, put his head on my other shoulder so he could reach it and then fell asleep.
Indy has never had an easy time falling asleep. Over the past 2 years we have tried giving him different things to help him, but none of them worked. First we tried a blankie. But Indy made it quite clear that he hated blankets of all shapes and sizes. We tried stuffed animals. Indy now takes 2 stuffed animals to bed with him (Pooh bear and Hop hop), but he doesn't hold them. He simply says good night to them and lays them on the bed.
I guess no one can tell you what will help you feel safe and secure in this world, no one can give you a magic item to help you fall asleep at night (unless it's a prescription for Ambien). You have to find it for yourself.
For the uninitiated a "lovie" is the thing that a child uses to comfort them, help them fall asleep, or to feel better. Indy did not have one of these until recently. He chose his own, and he made a very unusual choice.
The lovie he chose for himself is the mole on my wrist. Yes, the mole on my wrist. Now I put my arm around him in bed and he rubs his finger around my mole as he falls asleep. When he falls down, I pick him up, and his hand instinctively goes to my wrist. He has to make sure my mole is still there. Sometimes I can feel him looking for it in the middle of the night, running his little hand along my arm, trying to find my hand, trying to find my wrist. And I gently move my arm so he can find it. And then he falls back to sleep. We even had to have a little talk about the difference between "petting" and "scratching." And I am just a little bit nervous about him accidentally ripping it off.
It is so strange, so bizarre, so unexpected. But yet it also the most amazing thing in the whole world. It makes my eyes water just thinking about how much someone could need me, how much I could provide that comfort, that feeling of security for someone else. The thing that I'd found lacking in my life until I met Scott. I am that thing. I am that safety. I am that for someone else. And I love that. And I cherish that.
And yesterday he told me he loved me, for the very first time.
Yesterday he was very tired as we were leaving Hershey Gardens, so I picked him up. He is more than half my size, but I held onto him. He laid his head on my shoulder, eyes fluttering closed. And his little fingers crept down my arm looking for my mole. I told him, "that's the wrong arm baby." And he turned himself, put his head on my other shoulder so he could reach it and then fell asleep.