The Battle at the Bedroom Gate

It's been months since Victor has slept in a crib. He sleeps on a twin mattress on the floor, with bed rails flanking the sides of the mattress, keeping his tiny little body from rolling of the bed. He's held prisoner in his room by the child safety gate which barricades his bedroom door. For months now we've been trying to get him to sleep through the night and to learn to put himself to sleep. We've successfully weaned him from the the sleep-inducing effects of warm milk. The next challenge is to get him to stop crying when he realizes he is under lock down for the night. Last night was a battle. He stood at the bedroom gate, beating his little fists on the clear plexiglass and wailing as loud as his little lungs would let him. He almost wore me down, but I resisted. I came and went from the gate, pleading with him to go put his head on the pillow. I was almost convinced that he couldn't understand me and that I was losing the battle, when it happened. He admitted defeat. He looked at me with an angry snarl on his little face. And with tears streaming down his little cheeks, he turned and walked away from me, and climbed up on his mattress. I won. For the first time ever, he went to sleep on his own. On his own. No bottle. No lullaby. He climbed into bed. Put his head on his pillow, grabbed his Elmo, and within seconds he had drifted off into dreamland. The first of many battles, I'm sure. But the Battle of Bedroom Gate was over and won by Mom.

And Then My Heart Melted

Last night, my littlest monkey (Victor) was an absolute demon. We are trying to teach him to go to sleep on his own, without a bottle and without anyone sitting by his side. He screamed bloody murder everytime I left the room. He woke up a few times through the night and at about 4 AM, I finally caved and brought him into our bed. He snuggled up againts me and slept soundly for a few more hours.

I woke up this morning to slobbery kisses on my face. I openned my eyes to this smiling little boy with a big goobery grin. He smiled at me and said the words that every mother longs to hear. Ma-Ma.

And it melted my heart.

Am I really doing this?

I remember a few years back, reading a thread on a message board, called "Do you Blog?" I had no clue what a blog was. Probably still don't. I love reading the blog of a close friend, and I guess I thought, "hey, I can do this". If nothing else, this will serve as a chronical of the life and times of working mom, wife, and mother of two. Sound exciting? It is to me. Maybe one day, my kids will read it too. And then, they will probably say, "gawd Mom, did you have to put that on the internet?". As I paused on the registration page, I had to think of a user name. For years, my Yahoo ID has been Goan Princess. So Goan Princess it was. When my daughter was born in 2006, I affectionately called her "Princess Sienna of Oakville" and then when my son was born in 2007, he became "Prince Victor of Oakville". So there you have it, a theme is born and The Royal Family of Oakville are we. For years, my husband has been telling me that he is a god. I guess he will have to settle for being a Prince. Maybe one day, he'll be King.