Eric brought home work tonight, for the third time in as many nights, so I knew I had baby duty again. Not that I terribly mind. I love my child dearly, but when he begins to rub those sleepy little eyes at dinner, I'm often the first to glance and Eric and say, "Do you want to put this little guy to bed tonight?" or just straight up tell the little guy, "Daddy's gonna bathe you now". I even try to sell it off as "Good Father/Son bonding time" and ensure Eric that he is "so much better at putting the baby down than I am" (which for the record he really is). But alas, tonight work called for the husband and I knew it would be mommy's turn to put the baby to bed.
As I struggled to wrangle the little fellow into his 18 month jammies, I began to mentally calculate how quickly I could get this little guy to sleep. I had dishes to do, laundry to wash, and 2 casseroles to bake for work tomorrow, not to mention the fact that you can't walk 2 feet in any direction of our house without tripping over a toy. Maybe we could skip brushing his teeth, or I'll skip a few pages of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Perhaps we won't read a book at all and he'll be so tired I can just put him to bed after getting those darn PJs on.
As I continued to struggle with the jammies, I came to a realization. The jammies had shrunk. I'm the first to admit I'm terrible at laundry, after all I've spent nights picking gum out of work pants and thrown away countless tops due to pen stains, shrinkage and poor/accidental bleach incidents. So apparently I had found a way to shrink pajamas I had watched a bajillion times already. Right? There is no way this little dude had out-grown them already. Right?? I mean, Didn't I just go to Carter's the other day on my way home from work on stock up on 18 month cold weather pajamas because he was growing out of his 12 month summer pajamas? RIGHT???
Wrong.
Another pair of 18 month PJ's found themselves too tight a squeeze for my little guy's big 'ol legs, and so up the stairs we went, to dig and pray that there were some larger ones up there somewhere in the boxes of hand-me-down clothes I have been so graciously given. Fortunately, last year my co-worker handed down some clothes to me and as I dug through them I found some 2T pajamas. I almost skipped right over them assuming they would swallow my little guy, But when I pulled them out of the drawer, looked at them, and then looked at my little guy, I realized they may actually fit him.
Like. A. Glove.
How did my sweet little 5 lb 14 oz guy fit into 2T pajamas? HOW is that possible? It hit me like a freight truck. He is growing up too fast. Way too fast.
I forgot about the laundry. I didn't care about the dishes. The toys will already be out for him to play with tomorrow.
If I'm so quick to rush through bed time, I might forget all the precious moments that bed time entails at this age. Like the joy in his eyes and huge smile on his face when he splashes in the bathtub and plays the drums on the side of the tub. Or the fact that you sometimes have to use 3 toothbrushes before you can get those teeth clean, one for each hand and one for mommy to use. Or that on the way out of the bathroom and into the bedroom he likes to switch the fan in the bathroom on and off 3-4 times before he will turn off the light and I take him to bed. The way he sticks his his little fingers through the holes in The Very Hungry Caterpillar book when we're reading, and how he wants to kiss the Beautiful Butterfly at the end, and then close his head in the book. Or the way he starts to babble after our night time prayers, and every now and then as you walk out the door and say "Goodnight, I love you" a somewhat comprehensible, toddler language "iyuvoo" slips out as you close the door and turn out the lights.
These are moments I never want to forget. I love that this blog exists so I can document these memories... Even if it's only every 8 months... Writing them down, so when The Roo decides he doesn't want to kiss the butterfly anymore, or doesn't need bedtime stories, I will have these moments as a fixed point in time that will help me remember to slow down.. and enjoy every moment, every quirk and every bedtime.
(FYI He really is the cutest, sweetest thing in the world when getting ready for bed. I really wanted to snap a picture of my little guy in his crib all ready for bed, but I knew by the time I went downstairs to get my phone and come back, the moment would be gone and he would likely be either asleep or crying. Plus anyone who knows The Roo knows that if you pull out a cell phone and don't give it to him within 3.4 seconds, a temper tantrum will absolutely ensue)
