Musical Beds

 

I have confessed before that I am okay with our little boys sleeping with us. I feel like I don't get to spend enough time with them in any given day, so if at the very least, we can lay in bed together, read stories, sing songs, laugh and then they fall asleep in the crooks of my arms, I am pretty content.
  Apollo was more or less evicted from our bed when Orion came along 2 and 1/2 years ago, but has still been in our room. We happen to have a single bed at the foot of our kingsize bed. Apollo has gone back and forth between his own room and our room, sleeping in the single bed, but I gave up on trying to keep him in his own room when he started to feel like Orion took his place.
  So here is the problem; my offspring are wild when they sleep. They toss, turn, kick, flop, flip, kick the covers off, head-butt, and scream out. All to Melanie's dismay I might add. She blames it all on my genetics and I will accept full responsibility for that. Now that Orion is 2 1/2, we have begun a transitional phase. Apollo is back in his own room, and he is really liking it. Orion, although he will sometimes fall asleep in Apollos bed, he does not like to sleep in the other room. That is okay for now, because he is sleeping in the bed at the foot of our bed, at least for part of the night.

  I can almost set my clock by their sleeping patterns. On a typical night, Apollo will arrive at the foot of our bed around 1:30am. He will grab my foot and shake it. This means, wake up and come to my bed. Which I do. I will follow him back to his bed, lie down with him for a couple minutes and if I don't fall asleep, I will come back to our bed as soon as Apollo goes back to sleep. At 2:30am, I will hear a smack at the foot of our bed. This is usually Orion kicking the foot board, or even hitting his head against it. I can hear the blankets being kicked around, and then feel Orion scramble over the foot board and crawl his way up between Melanie and I. Depending on his mood, I can sometimes scoop him up, take him back to his bed and crawl under the covers with him until he falls back to sleep. Sometimes, Orion will demand that I get in bed with him, and other times he will protest; "I want to lay with mama."
  Needless to say, I don't always get enough sleep, however, it is all worth it. In a blink of an eye, these two little boys of mine will be grown, and I know I will miss these nights.
  But I have to say, the best parts of my night, is when both kids are in their own bed, and I can snuggle up against my wife. Even when she tells me I am moving too much, or by moving the covers, I am letting the cold air in. Eventually, she too becomes content or should I say, I will stay motionless long enough that she will fall asleep in my arms.
  As for me; I will relish this fleeting moment of blissful rest in my own bed, before I begin my night of musical beds.