a few steps forward and a giant leap backward

A few weeks ago we reached a significant milestone. At least it was significant to us. We finally got Z-Dub falling asleep in his own bed and on his own, like a "big boy." This was thanks to some helpful advice from Busy Dad and Mr. Lady at Stark Raving Dads.

With Z-Dub tucked into his bed, HotMomma and I were finally able to enjoy our evenings without the company of a two year old. This was huge, because prior to that I had to lay down with him each and every night for more than an hour as he fell asleep. It was an annoying routine that needed to be broken, and once we decided to finally take charge and change things success was swift. It was awesome. That is until this past week.

For some unknown reason Z-Dub suddenly won't stay in his bed. Each night I've had to constantly get up over and over and over again to walk him back to his bed, have a quick pep talk, kiss him on the forehead and leave the room. We're talking 20+ times each night and lasting well past 10 p.m. He's used every excuse in the book, including hearing noises, seeing shadows, he poo pooed (although he didn't), he's thirsty, etc. That part is actually kind of funny because of his age. It's amazing how a two year old can think stuff up like that.

But what makes this week's evening events particularly bad is I get to the point where I have to get very stern with him, with a raised voice and threats. It's frustrating and I feel bad because that's not how I want the mood to be before he goes to sleep.

We're hoping this is a brief phase and our evenings will quickly turn back to their still fairly new comfortableness that we've come to enjoy. It's like we're being teased. We got a taste of something good and now it's been taken away.

So now it's Monday, the start of a brand new week. For the sake of my sanity, as well as HotMomma's, I'll be re-reading the post on Stark Raving Dads and experimenting with different tactics and techniques to get us back on track. The game is over Z-Dub!