When we put Hutch to bed, we lay him down on his back in his crib as we sing to him. Most nights, he immediately pops right up to standing to give us kisses and walks the length of his crib a few times. But before we leave the room, we lay him on his back again and tell him “Night night, Hutch. We love you.” And then we leave the room.
Some nights, he falls asleep immediately. But many nights he crawls and rolls and wiggles and plays for a little while before he closes his eyes. He makes cute little happy noises as he plays in the dark. Sometimes we think he looks forward to his night-time playtime, that’s how happy he is when we put him in his crib.
When we started to realize that he loved a little alone playtime in his crib, we started putting some of his little stuffed animal friends in with him at night. And bonus! We found that when he has little critters in his bed to play with, in the morning when he wakes up he will sit and talk and play with them for a while which gives us a little extra sleep!
In Hutch’s crib time, one toy in particular has always made it’s way into the crib… this little Woodland Friends Tree Stump. We love this one! My mom got this for Hutch before he was born at a fun, eclectic little shop called Yuba Blue in the cute, historic downtown of Grass Valley, CA. We were excited because it was around only $15 for five little friends! Great deal. And it has provided hours of fun and lots of tiny hugs and kisses.
Every night before bed, we tuck the little critters into their little home. Every night when we check on Hutch once he is asleep, his little friends are scattered all over the crib and oftentimes he is holding one as he sleeps. And many mornings when I peek in at his playtime, I find him holding a critter, looking at it and making cute little noises as if he is talking to it.
Hutch has loved his little woodland friend even from his early days. As a matter of fact, in those early days it was not uncommon for his friends’ faces to be constantly wet… he loved biting their little noses.
But now he is much more grown up and serious about playtime…
“This is my bear!”
In case you are interested, I found this and other similar items on Amazon.com. The product is by “Unipak.” It’s not as cheap as the one I purchased in store… and it’s a little different… it comes with an owl instead of a chipmunk and the raccoon looks much scruffier!
the orange blossom 