Bears, Dragons, and Bedtime Rituals

We have added to Noah's bedtime repertoire.  In addition to reading three books and singing three songs, we now create a special force field around the house.  Noah was having nightmares for months about bears when I finally offered up, "what if there was a force field that protected us from bears?"  This wee suggestion has now evolved into Daddy doing two different types of force fields, the Super Mega and the Alpha Omega, complete with their own sound effects and gestures.  Be sure to ask Paul to perform them for you the next time you see him.

Once the lights are finally out and Noah's snuggled in bed, he and I like to spend a final couple minutes talking about what he will dream about.  At first, he always hoped to dream about lollipops.  Now, it's usually some version of mommy, daddy, or his loveys.  Between this and the force field, we seem to be winning the battle against nightmares. At least most of the time.

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This weekend we got out a fair amount to enjoy the last days of summer winding down.  Friday night we hit Bites Off Broadway with friends and got to eat some delicious food truck creations while Noah ran around with a couple of his buddies.  While his interest in riding his balance bike is usually short-lived, he seems to have endless energy when it comes to chasing his friends who are riding bikes.  Whatever works in getting him tuckered out for bedtime at night.  One of the food trucks was a converted school bus and Noah and his friend were just delighted to sit inside:

We also went to the Dragon Boat Festival on Treasure Island with Gigi.  Looks like he might be interested in the drummer position of the dragon boat crew someday: