We may be reaching Code Red

So, let's see...I last talked about Ian's bedroom situation maybe a couple of months ago now? And I'm sure you are all thinking that has been completely resolved by this point. Well, guess what? It hasn't. (I've said before that I'm indecisive and I meant it.)

The good news, however, is that I'm close. I mean, I know I said I was close a while back - but this time I'm really close. After approximately 298 scouting trips to IKEA, 156 trips to the paint store(s), three paint samples and one trip to World Market - I have definitely decided on the safari theme. In fact, I've more than decided on it. I've committed to it. Last week the piece de resistance - which I got on sale, by the way - arrived in the mail and it's now sitting spread out across the guest bed up against a couple of large pieces of paint samples. And, I'm pretty sure I'm not even going to return it.

So, if that is the good news...then what is the bad? The bad is that I think we may be running short on time. This is because I do believe that after three plus years, the novelty of the crib seems to be wearing off, while the intrigue of sleeping in an actual bed seeming to be heating up. At first it was very subtle. Little questions and statements here and there about where "Ian sleeps" versus "Mommy and Daddy's bed." Every now and then he'd climb up on our bed and liked sitting on it a bit. Okay, fine. Then one day he laid down. Then, he pulled the covers up. "This is how Mommy and Daddy sleep?" he asked. "Well yes, but it's not much fun," I said. "Oh." And that was the end of that. (Sometimes I still amaze myself with my quick and witty comebacks.)

But really, it wasn't the end of that. And recently - as in, this week - things have taken a turn for the worse. Yesterday, late afternoon, he decided that he was still tired and needed another nap. Really?? Jackpot!!! That's what I was thinking. But Ian had other things in mind. "I'm going to go to sleep in there," he said, pointing to the bed in the guest room. So I thought that was cute and I played along. He hopped up on the bed, pulled down the pillows and pulled up the covers. And there he was: Snug as a bug in a rug! Then I made what may have been my biggest mistake in at least the past two days. I shared "the plan" with him:

Me: You know, someday very soon you are going to have your very own bed just like this one and the one that Mommy and Daddy sleep in.

Ian: I will?

Me: Yes. You won't have your crib anymore and you'll sleep in your own big boy bed.

Ian: Oh!! (He says with a big smile.) And I won't sleep in my crib anymore? (Turning what I just told him into a question as if the outcome might have changed in the past two seconds.)

Me: Nope, just your new bed.

Ian: Oh!!! (More big smiles.) I'm going to practice in the cat bed now, okay? (For some reason he calls the guest bed the "cat bed" even though I kick Catalina off every time I even see her try to get comfy on there. Because that's the kind of mean cat parent I am. Does anyone want a sweet cat, by the way?)

Then, he did something that's been happening more and more lately: I was asked to leave. On the way out he said, "Can you shut it?" "Shut what?" I asked. "The door. Please shut the door." I obliged, checking in every now and then to find this:

When Jeff arrived home a bit later, Ian was still doing his practice session, so we ended up all piling in the bed together which Ian thought was more fun than eating a quesadilla. Well, okay, we won't go that far. But he was pretty tickled. Then this afternoon, as soon as we got home from school, guess where he went? Straight for the cat bed for more "napping." When I told him that he couldn't stay there long because it would be time for him to go into his room and his own bed for a real nap, I heard the inevitable question: "Can I take my nap here?" Uh oh. We were clearly reaching dangerous territory with this whole bed thing. When I told him no, that he needed to nap in his own room for now, I feared some level of flip out might follow but it didn't. Whew. (You can really never be too grateful when flip outs are averted.) Instead, he got down and went into his room and came back with a selection of his favorite items from the transportation sector. He asked, "Can I play with these on the cat bed until my naptime?" "Sure."

Tonight I told Jeff that it's time to get a transition plan in place. Sort of like the Obama team transition plan, but a little less important.

Until I write again.