Over the past few months we have settled into a pretty good bedtime routine mainly after the discovery of stories on CD. The kids are in their beds by 8:30. They take turns listening to a story on CD (which we get new each week from the library) until 9:00 and then listen to music until they fall asleep which is sometimes not until 10:00 pm. They both sleep until 7:00 or 7:30 and rarely wake up at night except for the occasional bad dream (Samuel) or wet diaper (Oliver).
Despite the good routine they both have their idiosyncrasies around bed and sleep.
Samuel
Samuel does not require very much sleep (I blame Kevin's genes completely). When he is home with us he does not take a nap and only really needs a 30 minute rest time. On these days he usually falls asleep around 9:00 and will sleep until 7:00am. On the days he is at school much to our dismay he takes a nap. These nights he can easily be awake until 10:00 or 10:30. Luckily he is in his bed and quiet.
As bedtime draws closer for Samuel he gets multiple aches and pains. As soon as we brush teeth he generally starts taking about how his leg hurts, his eyes itch, his right toe feels funny, his left arm has a dry spot, etc. Some of these can be remedied by applying aquaphor and others feel better with the application of a warm rice pack. Others require the reminder that our bodies are tired and pain is a sign that we need to sleep (I don't think he believes this at all).
Oliver
Oliver also doesn't require as much sleep as I would expect (or hope?) for a 2 year old. He still takes a nap at home and at school although he can skip it and generally hold it together until bedtime. If he takes an hour nap he doesn't fall asleep until 9:00ish and if he took a long nap he can outlast Samuel sometimes staying awake until 10:00 or so. He does a relatively good job of staying in bed and listening to stories and music until he falls asleep.
Oliver is not potty trained although I am convinced he can make himself pee when he wants to--especially right after lights are out and kisses have been given. As soon as we sit on the couch and get comfortable he usually calls for us to change his diaper because it has pee.
Oliver also has a recent need for a nightly band-aid. Again, once lights are out, he declares his need for a band-aid because his finger hurts. We let him get a band-aid himself and then go back to bed. Almost every night he applies the band-aid and leaves it on for approximately 20 minutes. He then takes it off and brings it out to us or puts it in the trash can. Other than being a bit costly for so many band-aids it seems to make him happy and the application of and removal of the band-aid keeps him quiet in his bed.
