In her OWN bed, by HERSELF

I don't know how long it will last, but at the moment, Onna is sleeping in her OWN bed all by HERSELF!

Tonight seemed like a good night to try it. I don't have to work until the afternoon tomorrow. She was up early this morning and didn't have a nap this afternoon. At daycare they went swimming, so I knew she was tired.

I usually prepare her for a transition like this, but I knew it would be rough. Tonight, when we got home from my parents' house. I told her that we needed to talk. I told her that since she is now five AND A HALF, that she needs to start sleeping in her own bed. She said to me, "Yeah, yeah, yeah," rolled her eyes, and tried to walk away! I told her that I meant that we were going to start tonight. She then started crying and said she was NOT going to sleep in her bed, "not tonight, not EVER!"

I got her "warm milk with a straw" ready for her. She drinks that after she takes her inhaler. It's part of her standard routine. You can barely get me to drink could milk, let alone warm milk EW! Anyway, she ran upstairs and hid behind the bathroom door. I got my pj's on and did my nightly routine, while she sniffled behind the door. When I was done I said it was time for milk and inhaler in the "pink chair." That's a rocking chair in my room that's been handed down several times. It fits us just perfectly and is our favorite cuddle spot. We rock there every morning with "warm milk with a straw" too. She came right to me, but was still crying/sniffling.

The warm milk and cuddling cleared up the crying/sniffling. I said to her after rocking for about 5 minutes or so, "How about we go rock in your room?" She gave me a funny look, because we've never done that before. She has a rocking chair in there, but we never use it. The pink chair is so comfy that's where we always go. She agreed. I surprised her again when instead of going to the rocking chair in her room, I pulled a Ninendo chair up next to her bed. I said, "Let's rock here. We can listen to music too." She agreed.

We visited for a little while during the music. She told me that sometimes she has trouble falling asleep. She asked me if there was something wrong with her. :( I told her that it was perfectly normal and she needed to learn ways to help her body relax. I also told her that we need to stop using the TV to help us relax because it's bad for our brains. It gets parts of our brains excited right before we fall asleep, and then our brains can't sleep as well. If our brains can't get enough sleep then they can't grow. She really paid attention to what I was saying.

After a little while, 5-10 minutes, she was getting uncomfortable. I asked her if she wanted to stretch out. I told her I'd sit right next to her bed and hold her hand if she wanted to lay in it. She didn't think she could reach my hand from the bed, but when I showed her that I could, she decided that would be fine. She held my hand for about 2 minutes when she said, "Mom, I think I want to do this by myself." I said, "What?!?!" She said, "If I'm in here by myself and fall asleep. I mean by myself. Will you be in your room?" I told her I would. All she had to do was say my name and I would be RIGHT in. She seemed just fine with that.

After I left she asked two questions. One was what time Lisa and Mike would be coming. It was actually going to be any minute. I stretched the truth a little and said, "Late tonight, very late tonight. We'll see them in the morning." I can't even remember what the other question was. I think it was something about Grandpa's new baby puppies. She gets to see them right away in the morning too.

My little girl is growing up. I'm so super proud of her!