"Love you, Mommy. Thank you."

Yesterday, when I picked Aidan up from the sitters, he was flushed and hot and very sweaty. Overheated, in fact. Our sitter said he and the other kids had been outside playing all day (mid to high 80's all day), except during lunch and nap. She went inside and got him a cup of water and we were on our way. Turns out, I really am not too sure he had had much to drink in the afternoon.

We went immediately to meet Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa for dinner where Aidan exhibited his recent usual not so good behavior. But, by the time we were finished eating and leaving the restaurant, he had calmed down and was actually being very good--and continued to be good all the way home. I think he was definitely overheated and possibly a bit dehydrated. He had finally had a chance to cool down, drink something good for him and relax for a while.

Hmmmmmmm. . . we may be on to something here. . . .

When we got home, I gave him his bath, which went very well and after getting pj's on and some more cool Cranberry juice mixed with water, Daddy took Aidan off to bed and I was able to go on to bed myself with my book. But, here is where we hit our next snag. . .Aidan is used to the way Mommy puts him to bed! He was okay during the book time with Daddy, and okay with the rocking, but it just wasn't how Mommy does it! (baths that Mommy does aren't as good as Daddy's, either.)

He started to cry. . .and the sound began to grow. . .Daddy went back in a few times, but I finally realized I needed to go in myself. So, I did. I told him I would rock him for a couple of minutes but that he needed to then go back to bed and go to sleep. "okay." And so I rocked him for about 3 minutes. Seriously! I'm not joking! It was really only about 3 minutes later and I set him in bed, kissed his forehead and said goodnight, sleep good, see you in the morning. And Aidan replied with a little hand on my cheek, "Love you, Mommy. Thank you."

Huh! He thanked me! Teary eyed, I went on back to bed with a song in my heart and a smile on my face. I think we'll make it through this stage afterall.

But, unfortunately, we're going to cancel on meeting with some blogger friends at Kings Dominion this weekend. Aidan needs to have a quiet weekend. . .too many weekend in a row with excitement and especially with the next three weekends in a row travelling to and from the beaches of North Carolina!