An update on sleep and exploring Bull Creek

A few posts ago, I was pretty deflated with how things were going with Pearce's sleep routine without his BBs.  Pearce was saying he was scared of being by himself in his room, wanted his door left open, wanted the lights left on, and did not want to take naps.  I think I felt guilty about BBs, so I went along with his requests, but after a while, I knew this just wasn't working.  He would stay awake in his bed until after 10:00, sometimes 11:00 at night because his door was open and he kept looking out from his bed to see us.  Plus, I was feeling like I couldn't do laundry or other things around the house because he would hear me.  After talking to Mom, she gave me the advice I knew, but needed to hear.  I had to put my foot down and say the door has to be closed at night, and lights off.  I needed to tell him there were no monsters at our house, nothing scary at our house or in his room....only silly, happy, fun things were at our house and in his room.  I told him all of this and told him his room is the same room he's always slept in.  That he had always liked his room and had never been scared.  The only thing that's different now is that he doesn't have his BBs, but that's because he's a big boy now.  I told Pearce he had always slept with his lights off and his door closed and that's how it's going to be from now on.  I was firm, but convincing, I guess, because Pearce said, "There's no monsters here? Oh, ok."  I just had to reassure him and that was it.  I mean, it was seriously that simple.  Thanks mom!!  As far as naps go, those are definitely over.  It was exhausting trying to convince Pearce to take a nap and stay in his bed.  Again, after talking to my mom, she said for me to just let him give up his nap...not worth the fight, but let him have quiet time in his room instead.  It was nice to have her say it was o.k. to do that.  She has a way of wording things in the best, most positive way :)  So, the next day, I told Pearce he did not have to take a nap, but that he did have to stay in his room and have quiet time so that Mommy can have a little break.  He was all about that!  I mean, when I told him he did not have to go to sleep, but that he did need to stay in his room and play quietly, he perked up and said, "Oh, ok Mommy, I can do that!"  So, that's what we've been doing.  Usually around 2:00ish, I tell Pearce it's time to go to his room and rest.  I made some "quiet time boxes" for him with various games, books, and activities.  Pearce will choose a box and then just play for the next hour or two.  Lately, he's been wanting Otis and Daisy to stay in his room with him which actually gives me a little more time :)  At some point, Pearce will usually ask for a snack, so I'll bring him a snack to have in his room.  All in all, it's worked out just fine.  Because Pearce is no longer napping, that meant he really needed to have an earlier bedtime.  So now, Pearce goes to bed by 7:00-7:30.  This does make it harder for Chris to see Pearce in the evenings sometimes, but Chris agreed that Pearce really does need to get a good night's sleep, so a lot of the time, Chris will go to work a little later in the morning and get Pearce up and have time with him in the mornings.  I'm so relieved we've found our new normal and that it's working out just fine!! 

Now, Bull Creek!  I love doing new things with Pearce.  I saw a write up about Bull Creek a few days ago and decided Pearce and I needed to check it out.  Chris was out of town and we had no plans for today, so it was the perfect day to go exploring.  I packed us a picnic lunch and off we went.  When we got there, we found the creek with perfectly clear water and rocks all around.  Lots of people were out with their dogs and kids.  The dogs and kids were loving playing in the water and Pearce could not get his water shoes on fast enough!  He went right in....the water was COLD, but he didn't care.  He had so much fun throwing rocks in the water and just wading in the water and walking up and down the creek with his walking stick :)  After a while, we walked a trail for a bit.  Then we came back and ate our lunch on the rocks.  After some more wading and rock throwing, it was time to go.  We were right by Waterloo, so since we had the whole day open, I decided to stop there to let Pearce play in the sandbox and on the playground.  By the time we left, Pearce was one tuckered out little guy....which was exactly my plan :)  We had such a fun day and Pearce was more than ready to get in bed at 7:00!