Victor is asleep next to me. After rubbing my ear and singing the banana phone song and making a sleepy attempt at jumping on the bed.....after all of that....he's drifted off.
His little body curled like a fiddlehead.
Toddler coos and single words come out --- juice.......play.....then a second of laughther.
I've tried to explain to him what dreaming is -- the movies you watch while you're asleep, but I'm not sure he understands it yet.
But he did wake up the other day and ask to be Emma's brother -- love that. I love his heart. Chock'full'a'sweetness the boy is.
Summer has arrived in North Carolina. It's in the 90's but with the breeze today - I almost felt like I was in Hawaii again. I'm trying to be outside with him more in the evening. Running, spraying water, trying to get the last bit of energy out so bedtime is a little easier.
At the end of these hot days, he stinks. Like boy. Sweat. Dirt. Sand. Dried juice and food. All mixed together to make boy smell. He needs a bath everyday. He leaves dirt in the bath everyday -- there was a ring around the bath on Monday. His head was so dirty with red Carolina clay I had to wash it twice.
Love this dirty boy.
Since Victor has been bestfed until 20 months - we've been a co-sleeping family. Which means basically Victor sleeps in our bed most nights -- he may start out in the crib most nights and as the night continues, he ends up in our bed.
As we were all laying together tonight - a little pile of family - my heart was full for these nightly snuggles and cozies.
The twilight blue light covering us as the fan circles the air above and Victor's little inky eyes looking up at me, pulling on my ear and patting my arm.
In the morning he pats us awake, and then moving in closer to snuggle for a while until we're ready to get moving.
Of course there are the times like last night when he poked me until I woke up and then when I opened my eyes, he said 'HI!' and while I tried to get him settled, he would raise and lower his legs and I laughed (even though it was midnight or so) because I remember doing that very thing when I was a kid. Raise them up...then flop them down....again and again.
Of course people tell me I'll regret this or that he'll never want to sleep on his own, or he'll basically be a pain sleeper -- but I figure he'll move out before long, when he's ready and hopefully the cozy piled-together family time we've spent all slumbering will help to create a web of love he knows he can count on that helps him fall asleep as a grown man......someday.
