Cuddly Wuddly Muffin Pants

Lumpyhead has not been sleeping well since our return from the beach. We re-ferberized (not a verb, I know) him after returning from Maine and Minnesota, and he got back on a regular schedule. But I've been a big sissy about re-ferberizing (look, just let it go) since coming back from the beach.

Because, quite simply, I am a big sucker. Huge.

At the beach, Lumpyhead slept in our room in a pack-n-play. When he woke up in the middle of the night, Bump and I took him into our bed and he spent the remainder of the night with us. We would wake up in the morning to tiny fingers in our ear or our mouth, or maybe a small hand slapping our foreheads, or the sound of a little head thunking into the headboard.

We would sometimes also wake up to a great big grin.

It looked a lot like this:

We'd wake up to that or complainy whining.

While starting the morning with a smiling boy is tempting, that temptation is out-weighed by getting kicked in the ribs or elbowed in the eye socket several times during the night. Plus, you could never guarantee that you'd get grins and giggles, you might get cranky squealing.

We co-slept out of necessity before sleep training Lumpyhead, when he woke up five times a night. While we sometimes still co-sleep while traveling, we've pretty much transitioned Lumpyhead to his crib at home. Lumpyhead has indicated he prefers to sleep with us, or at least avoid his crib whenever possible. We've noted but not accommodated this proclivity, which is also what we've done with his expressed preference to eat M&Ms for every meal.

But at the beach, Lumpyhead upped the ante.

He tried straight-up cuteness. At one point, when he should have gone back into the pack-n-play from our bed, he actually pulled the covers up under his chin and beamed at me, saying "Look, mom! I could stay here, instead. Look how comfortable I am!" This tactic did not succeed.

Then, Lumpyhead pulled out the big guns. He started to cuddle.

He's always been a snuggler, but usually not for more than a few minutes. Now, he'll not only pull you close, but if you try to break away, he'll hang on tighter.

How can you say "Okay Buddy, back to the Crib of Injustice" to this?

You can't. At least I can't. Because I'm a huge sucker.

Bump has been at fantasy football drafts for the last two nights, but tonight he's putting Lumpyhead to bed. Maybe he'll have better luck. Or at least more will power.