Nathan's Bedtime Routine.

The other day, Nathan was supposed to go to his bookshelf to choose a couple books to read before bed-- a few minutes later I went to check on him to see what happened, since he never came back. Sure enough, he was fast asleep right in front of his bookshelf.  I guess choosing books proved to be far too strenuous! 

I was trying to get pictures without waking him up.  I just love a sleeping baby!

He's pretty cute, isn't he?

Also, I thought I'd share Nathan's bedtime routine-- just because I think it's funny. :) 

We've been trying to get into a good routine for a while now, but I didn't realize just how committed Nathan would get to the EXACT routine.  Here goes:

1. Get his pajamas from his bottom drawer-- he only ever wants to wear his "blue shorts with dinosaur shirt" (his pajamas in the pictures above). 

2, Change into his pajamas while in his room.  One time I tried to get him to change in the bathroom-- no way, we had to go back to his room to change.

3. Go to the bathroom and brush "the bad guys off his teeth." {A while back I used this technique to get him to brush his teeth-- the idea that there were bad guys on his teeth that would eat his teeth, if he didn't brush them off. And then he would wake up in the morning with no teeth! And then he would want to eat corn on the cob and he couldn't because he didn't have any teeth anymore. It worked wonders-- equal parts of dislike for bad guys and love for corn on the cob.}

4. After brushing his teeth, he rinses his mouth twice (exactly) and after spitting out the water he says, "No bad guys for me!" After rinsing twice, he then takes a sip of the remaining water and drinks it. Always. He then asks for the brown hand towel to dry off his mouth. 

5. He goes to the bathroom one last time before bed time and then goes to his room to get his book for bedtime.

6. We read a Mickey Mouse book called Colors, Colors Everywhere. It's about Mickey, Goofy, and Mickey's nephews learning about how colors mix, as they paint Mickey's house together. And I could tell you the story word for word anytime, anywhere.  It's the only book he's wanted to read at bedtime for about a month straight.

7. After the book is over, Nathan gets Freddy and we all kneel by N's bed to say our night time prayers. If it's up to N, it's usually something like this, "Hebenly Pader, thank thank this day. Bless we go to sleep. Bless the family. Aim ma Jesus Christ, amen." Usually I interrupt to make sure he elaborates a little bit, but that's the general skeleton of his prayers.

8. Then F has to leave, and close the door on the way out.  

9. Nathan turns on his soccer ball night light, and then uses his little step to turn off his light.

In that order. Every. single. night. (Except bath nights-- then the beginning starts out a little different, but not by much!)

This kid is so into routines, it's hilarious! The next step for us is to teach him time, or at least what time is bedtime-- that way we can get better at going to bed at the same time each night. :)