Bedtime Bliss

I've had this post in the works for a while, but there hasn't been a sufficient lull in other news to move it to the top...until now :)

I posted a little over five months ago about the "musical beds" we struggled with through the second half of 2010.  I mentioned then that we hoped setting up the bunk beds would start a new era of bedtime consistency, and did it ever! Shortly after that post, we set up the bunk beds and moved the boys back into the same room.  I continued keeping Ethan's nap less than an hour long and not putting Caleb down at all.  The result has been the return of our child-free evenings!  For more than five months, they have both been asleep by 7:30 pm almost every single night.  YIPPEE!!!  Of course, they are still up around (usually before) 6:00 am every morning, but that's just because they (unfortunately) only need 10-11 hours of sleep each day.  Being a morning person, I can handle early mornings much better than late nights.

For the past five months, bedtime has been enjoyable and predictable once again: pajamas, brushing teeth, trip to the potty, reading books, sharing hugs & kisses and saying prayers.  The bunk beds have been just the ticket to give the boys the perfect balance of togetherness & separation.  Caleb is able to drift right off to sleep from his top bunk perch, tuning out the wind-down chatter of his younger brother below.  And neither of them feel the need to crawl into our bed during the night, since they have each other.  Marcus and I have breezed through several seasons of our favorite TV shows during our lovely, quiet evenings this year.  Even Lydia's arrival hasn't interrupted that, since she (unlike her brothers) is a champion sleeper and still spends most of the day and night in peaceful slumber.  I am so thankful that this third child of mine seems to need a lot of sleep, after five years of Energizer-Bunny little boys :)  With any luck, she may actually continue to sleep as many hours as the sleep books recommend for her age!