the first night

Tonight's the night the girls are on their own.

We or rather, "me" to be precise, spent many months agonizing over this and whether I'm pushing out of their comfort zone too soon. To make them do things they're not ready. I mean, they are only 3 and 11 months for crying out loud. Not as if they are 7 or 5.

But, amazingly, they both proved me wrong. More so on Ash's part. She didn't protest nor kick a fuss. Earlier, at 9, hubby accompanied her upstairs to bed. She immediately turned and opened 'her' room door. Hubby waited till she finished her milk, took her bottle and put it aside. Then, he whispered 'good-night, Ashley doo-doo ok' and kissed her forehead. I wasn't there to see it, but that's Ash's bed-time routine with hubby.

Lil' monster was with me downstairs. She, on the other hand, wasn't as comfortable and as willing to try out her new room as Ash. She protested when we put her down in her cot and made a lot of noise. So, in the end, I took her downstairs while hubby tucked Ash in. It took a while for Em to settle down. As a matter of fact, we didn't settle her, she just fell asleep as soon as she finished her milk and we just carried her from our room to hers. She was simply too tired to have any sort of protest after that.

I must say though, Ash didn't fall asleep immediately. She took a while and only did so (sleep), after hubby brought lil Em to the room. It's the new room, the new smell...it's different. I don't blame them one bit. Actually, I was prepared for the worst as in to move them back to our room. But, I'm glad I don't have to. Well, not tonight at least.

If you were to ask me whether I did some kind of prep work with Ash prior to this; I'd have to say no, not intentionally anyways. You see, Ash has been sleeping on her bed for the past 9 months or so; ever since we brought home my bed from my mom's place. My sister was using it but she had a new bed and didn't want it. So, we took it. It took a while for her to adjust to her own bed because she's been sleeping on ours since she was 1. But, she finally got the hang of it and claimed it as her own. So that was the first step towards getting her ready for her own room.

Then, a couple of weeks back, we stopped accompanying her when it was time for bed. Usually, hubby'll stay in the room, till she fell asleep before coming downstairs and sometimes, he'll just fall asleep there and then. But, the past few weeks, he established a bedtime routine for her. Sort of. He'll stay till she finishes her milk, take the bottle from her and then, leave her in the room. Again, this took a while. She cried the first few times, and sometimes, hubby and I will take turns accompanying her till she knocks off. Some days, it takes a while, some days she falls asleep pretty quickly. But, hubby was pretty persistent. He'll repeat the process over and over again until she's finally ok it. We will always talk to her and tell her that she'll be ok, that she needs to go to bed and that we'll be downstairs if she needed anything. So, she knows we're near. It worked wonderfully and we never had to accompany her ever since. She'll fall asleep by herself.

The same thing happened today. It took a while for her to get a shut eye but she was alright. So, I'm very very happy about the events that unfolded. I was really was expecting the worst. But, you know, hopefully, this will last. Naturally, I am not strict with this arrangement. Rules are meant to be broken. They are more than welcome to come snuggle up with us whenever they want. It's not a dead-end situation. Because frankly, I kind of miss them. My room feels so empty now (partly because we cleaned out alot of junk too..like a Hinkley lighting hehehe). But, it's good. I am enjoying my little privacy and no more kids stuff heheh..just me and the hubs. Time for No. 3 eh...:-P.

I'm really proud of Ash. Really I am. Not only because of this milestone she has achieved but at her playgroup as well. I'll tell you more later. Now, let me go and enjoy my big big bed...:-)