Cleveland

Owyn has a blanket. We call this blanket Cleveland. Owyn will not sleep without Cleveland. he will lay in bed crying for three hours if he doesn't have his blanket. Cleveland is dark blue with a light blue edge and airplanes.

Owyn's bedtime routine is very simple. We take him up (usually Tracy), change him in to his jammie's, give him a clean diaper and sit in a chair with him and cuddle. He has his warm bottle either on the changing table or in the chair. When he has had enough of cuddling (mileage may vary) he wiggles around and it is time to put him in his crib. We lay him down, and this is VERY important, and cover him, head to toe, with Cleveland.

If you don't have Cleveland then you can not carry out this last portion of the ritual. Owyn hid Cleveland this weekend. It took all day to find him. He was in Rhys' dirty clothes hamper. I had to crawl around on the floor, Owyn height and "be" a two year old to find the damn thing.

One of the ways that we ensure a lack of Cleveland drama is by keeping the blanket in the crib, where it belongs. This morning Owyn decided that he needed Cleveland with him. I have no idea where this came from, but he threw a screaming fit until Tracy gave him the blanket. He took Cleveland out to the car with him and cuddled all the way to school.

After school, when he got out to the car, he snatched up the blanket and cuddled all the way home. Once Owyn was distracted with toys and TV I took Cleveland back up to his bed.

I do not like this new scenario. I see too much opportunity for unmitigated tragedy. I do not want to contemplate bed time without Cleveland any more than Owyn does, though for very different reasons.