Sleep tight, girls

Every now and then, Rosemary goes off (with her suitcase) for a sleepover to my mum’s. Last night she had her first sleepover at her cousin’s, so she could watch the fireworks, which she enjoyed. The last two times she’s gone for a sleepover, we’ve moved Eleanor’s cot into her room for the night, as a test run. The first time we did this – no, who am I kidding, both times – I had fantasies of her sleeping through the night and this making the decision for us about when to move her permanently in with Rosemary. Nah. It didn’t happen. It was just pretty much normal.

Since we don’t have a TV in the living room anymore, I have to admit to having been really hoping Eleanor could move into Rosemary’s room soon so that I didn’t have to watch the whole of the new TV season via Sky Player (and so that I can actually watch House because, nope, not going to pay to watch it when I already pay for Sky, thanks). I’ve also been looking forward to being able to just move about in our room without having to be quiet and keep it dark. And, yes, obviously, there might be other things that could be done in a bedroom at night – though the dog has to move out as well, first.

So, this morning I suggested to Chris that, with a little bit of rearranging we could actually put the cot in there properly. We asked Rosemary and she was pretty enthusiastic (though had a little meltdown that we still don’t understand).

Tonight, therefore, Rosemary got to watch a bit of TV after dinner, in our room, while Eleanor had her bath, she then got to play in there while I got Eleanor down to sleep and continued playing for a bit (imaginary play – mums and babies it would seem; very appropriate) before having one story from me and one from Chris (in our room still). She then went through and got into bed.

Most nights she will shout out for us after going to bed – to have one more wee, tell us she’s scared of the light, and the dark, tell us something that happened that day, or basically do anything that can hold of actual sleep for a little bit longer. Tonight, instead of shouting she got out of bed and came up to the office – because she needed one more wee and her covers ‘flattened’. So she didn’t shout, which was good. She then got back into bed and went to sleep.

They’re both still asleep. Eleanor has stirred a couple of times – cried out briefly – but she’s gone back to sleep. I’ve managed to contain myself long enough to hear her going back to sleep, rather than rushing through to prevent her from waking Rosemary. And Rosemary hasn’t stirred when this has happened. We shall see what happens at the 2am(ish) wake-up, though obviously I am currently fantasising about the possibility of Eleanor sleeping all the way through to the morning. Now wouldn’t that be a luxury?

In the meantime, I have enjoyed an evening of watching TV (Stargate Universe followed by Castle) and blogging. I have written a review, a recipe and a ‘proper’ blog post. I do hope this works out, so I can make a habit of such pleasant evenings.

Do you have two (or more) children sleeping in one room and does it how does it work? How did you feel when you got your room back after your baby moved out and how soon did you do it (Eleanor’s just turned one)?