...and then there were two!

Bedtime Routine

DN's bedtime routine has been the same since he was about 3 months old.

1. Either a bath or a wipe-down... it depends on his "stinkiness".
2. Then PF, DN and I hang out in DN's room and play with his puppets, soft toys & puzzles.
3. Next, storytime. If he's really tired, one book. If not, DN usually wants to read about five to ten books. Sometimes, it gets to a stage where we're saying, "Okay, only one more book DN. Last one. No more. All gone. Time for BED!" I'm glad he likes his books. :)
4. After the last book, it's a kiss for PF and me, and then I cuddle him to sleep.
5. Zzzzz...

For the past two nights, I wasn't around to put DN into bed. On Wednesday it was a school event at Jubilee Hall, and yesterday, I decided to go to the gym after work (my first time in two years, so I'm walking like C-P30 today). It felt nice to do it again tonight (putting DN into bed, not the gym!).

DN has a few favourite books. He likes...

• Goodnight Moon
• Papa, Please Get The Moon For Me and
• the set of three Thomas The Tank Engine books we picked up in Perth

One of the books I used to read to him when he was really little was Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. My mom gave me the book and I teared when I read it to DN for the first time when he was about 3-4 months old. When he became more mobile and thus restless, I stopped reading that to him because he'd want to flip the pages every 2 seconds so I couldn't read the story at all.

This is how it starts...

"A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be."

The story goes on to describe how the little baby grew into a toddler, boy and teenager, and how, every night, the mother would sneak into his room when he's fast asleep, pick him up, cradle him and sing:

"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be."

The teenager became a grown up and moved out. Sometimes, his mother would drive to his house, sneak into his room and sing the song to him as he lay fast asleep. Until one day she called him up and asked him to come and see her.

"When he came in the door she tried to sing the song. She sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always...
But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick."

"The son went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And he sang this song:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my Mommy you'll be."

The story ends with the son going home and standing on the steps for a long time, thinking. Then he walks into his baby daughter's room, picks her up from her cot, cradles her and sings:

"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be."

(If you're not crying or at least tearing by now, you've either just kicked your little toe against a cupboard, or you're a man. -_- )

This week, I tried reading "Love You Forever" to DN again, and he sat through the entire book. He stared hard at the illustrations as I read the story and when I reached the last page, he still hadn't moved. Not a peep, not a wriggle.

I think he understood.