Love and Lights' Out

Grace's vocabulary is exploding. There isn't a word she won't try to say. She's also very busy, watering the plants with a spray bottle and putting on her own socks, shoes and shorts. It's exciting to see her try so many new things.

Today, prompted, she said she loved me and daddy. Very sweet and rewarding. She also tried flossing: Hooray! Recently, she started calling me "Mom" instead of Mommy or Mama. It's cute and funny, coming from a 20 month old child.

But when it comes to bedtime, well....

She is rejecting the crib but won't stay in the twin bed. Since she is nearly completely potty trained, the crib represents an impediment to her ability to go without our help. But for whatever reason, the bed is not where she wants to sleep. She tricks us into taking her out of the crib by saying she has to potty. This little ritual went through three cycles tonight until I wised up. Tired of squatting alongside the toilet while she sang and grinned and made funny faces and tried to get me to give her bandaids or lotion or extra toilet paper, I turned out the light in the bathroom, left the door open and went down the hall, telling her to let me know when she was done. A few minutes later I heard "Ah Done!"

Maybe it was the lights' out technique, the tough love, or the fact that it was 9:30, but it worked well enough. We re-diapered her (pull ups still don't fit and neither does underwear), dropped her into her crib and left. She yelled for us for a few minutes and then fell asleep. Tune in tomorrow to see if she stayed there or awakened at 5:50 AM as she did this morning, conning daddy into putting her in her parents' bed.....