bedtime contraband

I was reminiscing the other day about how easy it used to be to put Lauren to bed. When she got tired she would grab her blankets and walk upstairs to her room and ask us to put her in bed. She would often sing or talk to her "kids" for awhile, but putting Lauren to bed was generally a fast and pleasant experience. We are making up for that now.

A few things have changed: 1-we took away her pacifiers, 2-she's transitioned from her crib to a toddler bed, and 3-we started keeping more toys in her room after her birthday and Christmas. Apparently the freedom of the toddler bed paired with losing the relaxing effect of the pacifiers and the toys in her room are proving to be too much of a temptation and she can't help but play once she's left to herself. It was her "after lights out" shenanigans that caused us to move her back to her own room after about a month of sharing with Will. For the most part he is a rule follower and her nighttime sneakiness was driving him crazy and keeping him up much later than before they shared a room.

   How can wearing a crown to bed be comfortable?

I went to check on her and she had two tubs stacked on her bed. Who knows if she actually played with them or just planned to play with them and fell asleep before she got around to it.

Sleeping in the hallway with a few of her kids and books. 

I guess she'll never get lonely with all these trinkets in her bed.

We've started taking the toys out of her room and putting them up high in her closet where she can't reach them, but she still manages to smuggle things into her bed. We basically have to do a bed check every night at bedtime to make sure she isn't hiding something under the pillow or blanket. What drives me the most crazy is that it's almost like she wants to get caught. She gets this sly smile when I lift up her covers and find a handful of duplos. This girl is keeping my brain active!