Bedtime

I love Meggy's bedtime routine right now.
Well, I love pretty much everything Meggy is doing right now, she's at such a fun age!

However, we actually have a bedtime routine, the best one so far, because Meggy is getting big enough to participate! She knows what to do to get ready for bed, and gleefully participates... Up until a certain point of course.

When we ask Meggy if she's ready to go upstairs, she usually heads for the stairs, and we all truck up, even Knightly. Usually either Thomas or I 'chase' Meggy up and into her room. Once there, if she's not getting into the bath, we let her play around for a bit. Meggy's favorite game at the moment is "throw clothes on the cat." If you'd like to play at home, I have meggy's rules for you right here:

1) Find clothes. Preferably folded, clean ones from your drawers, but if you have to pull them from the hamper, that's OK too. Gather together as many as you can hold in your hands.
2) Find the cat. If you are a pro (or your cat is not very bright) you can sneak up on them lying in the middle of the floor. Occasionally you may have to scare them out from places like beds, dressers, or your dad's legs. Cover your ears if its that last one.
3) Throw the clothes onto to cat. If you miss, its OK! Just pick them up and throw 'em again!
4) Laugh hysterically, as though this is the funniest thing you've seen since your mom lost her keys at the park last week.
5) Repeat for neverending fun!

After Meggy gets tired, or Knightly runs away, which usually happens first, we change her diaper, and put her pj's on. This is usually Thomas' job; he does most of the bedtime routine. Its their special time together, and that's fine by me!! I get Margaret all day, and its nice to have a break in the evening. Meggy loves spending time with her daddy, and he usually plays little games, or sings and talks to her while she's getting changed.

Next comes brushing teeth! It was important to me to get this habit started early. Meggy doesn't always do the best job (she insists on brushing all by herself) but you can see the pride in her eyes as she does something just like mommy and daddy.

Meggy still nurses a little before she goes to sleep. She knows what the boppy pillow is for, and as soon as she is done brushing her teeth, she races and gets the pillow for me. Sometimes we have to remind her that "The pillow means it's milkies time, not playing time". She's at the age where she's starting to understand how to stall bedtime, but usually we can get her back on track.

Milkies time is my special quiet time with Margaret. We sing songs, or listen to music. When she's done nursing, I hold her on my lap and talk about the day. Meggy is very chatty, and usually do ant let me go a sentence without interrupting me. I still don't understand her, but the inflections and facial gestures she uses indicate that we are having a two-way conversation.

Whenever Meggy is done, she'll call out "Daaaa!" Or go get Thomas if he's not coming into the room fast enough! We then have family prayer time. Its not very long at all, since Meggy can only hold our hands for about 75 seconds at the very most! Thomas and I take turns, although I imagine soon, Meggy will be able to help us. Its a wonderful time for us all to have The Spirit with us as a family, and although Meggy sometimes runs off in the middle of prayer, she always comes back for the Amen!

After prayer, I say goodnight to Meggy and turn out the lights. She does much better being put to bed by Daddy, even if she's not very tired. Thomas holds her, and walks around the room, singing. Then he'll put her in the crib, and pat her back until he's done singing.

If Meggy is very tired, this is usually all it takes to get her to sleep. More often than not, she'll cry/fuss for a bit but never very long. Usually by the time Thomas has walked out of her room and come downstairs, she has fallen asleep.

We really enjoy this special routine with Meggy. I love that Thomas and I both have time to spend some precious moments one on one with our sweet toddler, as she is becoming more energetic and busy!

*all of these photos (except the bath one) were taken in the morning, because I have a strict, no-phones-at-bedtime policy. I take quite a few when Meggy wakes up however, hence the adorable pjs pictures in this post.