The Human Teddy Bear

I seem to have become a human teddy bear for my three year old son. Cruz sleeps in our bed at night. We have a king size bed, and even with a mattress that large, he must cuddle up right next to me. He always has to be touching me with either a hand or foot, and together we take up a forth of the bed.

Having him in the big bed has never been that big of a deal for my husband and me. I work all day and enjoy the extra bonding I get from sharing the room with Cruz. Some day he will want his own room and to sleep in his own bed, and then we will have to figure out how to convert the office into his special place. But for now, sharing the room works for us.

Recently though, I'm having a hard time waking up in the morning without also waking Cruz. We have a foam mattress that makes it easy to get in and out of bed without disturbing anyone else sleeping in the bed. However, Cruz sleeps so close to me and constantly has a hand or foot on me to make sure I'm still there, so the second I try to get out of bed, he wakes up.

Problem is, I get up at 5:00 AM so I can get a few things done before anyone else wakes up. Things like check my email, balance the checkbook, and post on Twitter. Honestly, it's "mommy-time" and about the only time I get to myself most days. If Cruz wakes up when I do, he's constantly requesting food and drink and particular cartoons, or he wants to sit on my lap while I'm using the computer. Basically, it distracts from my mommy-time.

I wish he had a teddy bear to cuddle with in bed instead of using me as his human teddy bear. Then maybe he would sleep in a little longer.. Or maybe he just likes to get up at 5:00 AM. He's definitely more of a morning person than I am ;-)