Bedtime Happenings

I usually put Daniel to bed so that's when I tend to notice new behaviors and preferences. We still sit in the glider with the lights out before I put him in his crib. He will drink milk, ask to read books, listen to songs, and try to make me smile. Here are a few recent developments:

• One night, we were sitting quietly because it was too dark to read, and I couldn't think of anything to sing. Daniel looked at me and said "Momma". When I said "Yes, Daniel?", he held up his index finger and said "dedo". One of the songs we learned in Music Together is "Don Alfredo". It's in Spanish, and Don Alfredo dances with various parts of his body. The first part that dances is el dedo (finger). After confirming that his finger was indeed a dedo, I sang the Don Alfredo song. He's since shown his dedo to his dad and grandparents.

• While we look at books (this is getting tougher as the light fades earlier and earlier), Daniel likes to tip his cup of milk towards the book and say 'nite 'nite. I think he's tucking in the characters. He's offered milk to Gossie, baby owls, a train, and the animals in "Good Morning, Good Night".
  

• Sometimes Daniel will offer me some of his milk. If I make appreciative slurping sounds and say "thank you", he'll respond "wel'com".
  

• For many months, I would sing lullabies while he drank his milk. Lately he gets fidgety when I try to sing the usual bedtime songs. To shake things up a bit, I've started singing the "Thomas and Friends" and "Caillou" theme songs. The first night I sang the "Thomas" theme, he said "Tomas Tomas More". I must have sung it 5 times before I convinced him that was enough. "Little Bunny Foo-Foo" is a current favorite too. He especially likes the part about bonking the field mice on the head. (He gets a little tap on his noggin from Mommy.)