Dora saves the day...or night rather.

I'm blogging from my phone at 11pm on a Sunday night, because I don't want to forget this little moment. A moment not much different from any other night over the past 19.5 months. But a moment so sweet and pure that I just feel the need to write it down so that I don't forget.

Nick has always been a hit or miss sleeper. Fortunately, since he turned a year old, he's been more hit than miss and rarely wakes at night unless he's cold, teething, sick, or scared from a bad dream. And when that happens, it's usually well into the early hours of the morning, waking us all from deep sleep, jolting us upright in bed in panic.

But tonight, Nick awoke around 10:45pm...just as I was turning off the tv and putting down my phone for the evening. I checked the monitor to see him standing in his crib, crying out softly. I could tell it was either teething or a bad dream. So I went in to comfort him and give him some orajel to relieve some of the pain (he's currently cutting his eye teeth on top). The orajel didn't help and he continued to cry, while reaching up to put his little arms around my neck - begging to be picked up from the crib and pulled into our room and bed for the night. But being that it was so early in the night, I couldn't bear the thought of none of us getting any sleep all night, seeing as Nick is a terrible co-sleeper (tossing, turning, kicking, and generally laying awake talking to whinnie, me, daddy, the ceiling fan, etc. etc.). So I tried to hug him until he was content, but he refused to lay back down and continued to cry.

So I pulled out the secret weapon...Dora.

See, Nick is in a bit of a Dora phase. And by "bit" I mean completely and totally in love. And seeing as I'm a sucker for anything that makes my kid sublimely happy, I purchased him a stuffed Dora pillow a few weeks ago. But up until now, Dora has been an "awake" toy only.

So tonight, as he continued to cry, totally un-soothed by mommy hugs, I asked "do you want mommy to get Dora?". Instant silence. The tears ceased and he nodded a slight "yes". I sprinted downstairs, scooped Dora up, and ran back into Nick's room. As I handed her to him, I whispered "but you have to go ni-night with Dora". And he squeezed her with all his tiny 30+ pound might, laid down right on top of her, and went back to sleep. Just like that. Pure sweetness.

And now, here I am, blogging about how I got my kid to go back to bed, so that I too could get some sleep, and instead I'm staying awake to watch him snuggle with Dora, occasionally reaching out and rubbing a soft foot of his teddy bear across his face, as if to reassure his bear that he hasn't been completely replaced. Man, toddlers are the best. I love this little boy. And tonight, I love Dora, too.