It's 10pm and Mason isn't asleep yet.
Which is surprising since he was telling me 3 hours ago that he was tired and wanted to sleep. At that time we were in the middle of visiting with his Grandparents (my Inlaws) and we were not at home.
So now that we were at home, we started the bedtime routine at 8:45. Drink of milk, off to the bathroom to brush teeth. Prior to that I had asked him if he had to pee. It's a dumb question because his answer is always, "No. Later". But tonight he surprised me. As we were in the bathroom and I was prepping his toothbrush, unbeknownst to me he had already pulled his jammie bottoms down, his pull ups and had plopped his little bum onto the potty. I didn't have much time to register what he was doing and was too late. Since he was sitting on the seat improperly (and did not have his winky aligned with the splash cup), the pee was running over the cushy seat and down onto the floor.
I didn't care. He peed by himself! High five!
After cleaning that up, teeth brushed, hands washed, story read and cuddles...it was time for HIM to sleep. Me, on the other hand was wanting some downtime to read the new book I picked up at the library, "Following Ezra". I left him in his night light lit room so I could have a rest on the couch but was quickly pulled from my reading as I could hear him thumping around in the room.
He was in bed, but clearly not sleeping.
So under the covers I went, fitting my 5'6" body onto the little boy bed mattress. He was quite chatty and I sang him a few songs. He said, "Mama, I love you soo much" and took both his hands and cupped my face. It was enough to make my heart melt. He was really kissy. I stopped talking so he would get the hint and stop too. But it didn't happen.
"Mommy, there are bats in the closet"
"No Mason, bats live in caves"
"Oh, clothes are in the closet?."
"Yes, and bats live in caves. And hang upside down and eat apples".
I don't know where I got the apples from...maybe I was thinking of fruit bats.
He happily babbled to himself for a while and then said,
"Mommy, there is an octopus up there". He points to the ceiling. I asked what his Octopus name was but I don't think it had one.
He talked to this octopus for a while and then repeated to me about bats living in caves. His memory is amazing for such a young age.
I once again, stopped talking. He thought then was a good time to balance his 'Happy' Monster Harold on my head. It fell off a few times. Honestly, I'm tired. I probably would have fallen asleep then and there because I was warm and he was cuddled up against me. But I had make up on, hadn't brushed my teeth or put my night time drops in my eyes. And because his mattress is not even close to being as comfy as mine is.
I laid beside him, with my eyes closed. Listening to him babble, talk about bats, give me random kisses and talk to his stuffies in a quiet voice. I know that these days are short and I am told that he won't want his 'Mommy' around as much. So even though it's approaching 10pm, I let him have his night time fun and hope soon, he will fall into a slumber. I thought a good close to this post would be to go into his room to find a sleeping Mason but no, I go up to his door to hear a whispering babbling Mason (It's 10:20pm). Oh well, at least we will have a good sleep in!