Making Progress

Since Charley moved into his big boy bed when he turned three he has been a rule follower...and the rule was...when he woke up he called for us and couldn't get out of bed until we acknowledged him. Well now he is 4 1/2 and we are trying to break this habit that was so wonderful about a year ago. Now he yells loud and long until we respond waking Henry up, waking us up, etc. So in the last week or so I have been talking to Charley before bed telling him as long as his clock says 7 he can just get up and come in and quietly say good morning...a much happier way to be woken up. It has taken a week or so for him to get it but the last three mornings he has come out at 7:45 (love the time change) with a smile on his face. And guess what! He is greeted with a smile instead of a "SHHHHHHH! WHY ARE YOU YELLING! IF YOUR CLOCK SAYS 7 YOU JUST GET UP! YOU ARE BIG ENOUGH NOW! COME ON!"

I am proud of my boy... We really want him to sleep later in the morning so he can stay up later in the evening as the sun shines and the weather gets nicer. Since he no longer naps it is hard to keep him up if he won't sleep later ....I am stickler for getting the recommended amount of sleep. So far three mornings have started much happier. Oh, and he dressed himself one morning and I had no problem that it included brown cozy pants, an old green sweatshirt from when I was a kid with a pinkish/orange t-shirt that was a wee bit small snugly pulled on top of the sweatshirt....he even wore it to school. Independence - totally worth it!

And get this...this morning when he was getting dressed he said he didn't need new underwear because the ones he wore last night were still dry! HOLY COW! I totally forgot...and obviously it was nothing big to Charley either. Last night he didn't want to wear a diaper to bed...we have been waiting for this moment! I wanted him to take this step on his own. We'll see if we will no longer be buying diapers for CHARLEY! WOOOHOOO!

Life is going way to fast!