Night time at the Richards

(this post is pretty random...but its more for journal purposes I suppose)
Parker is so silly when it comes to bedtime. Ever since he was a baby he has only liked to sleep in his own bed. Once in a while if he is super tired he might snooze in the car, hardly ever at another persons house, and for sure not at church.
When he was a small baby he had a mobile over his crib and we would just wind it up once or twice and he would be asleep no problem. (Of course he has always needed a binky and a blanket.) Then when he could sit up and grab it we took that down. We replaced it with a little soft farmhouse thing that my mom bought him that would hang from his crib and he could pull the cow and it was a music box/lullaby and the string would retract as it would play. So for about a year when we would put him in there and pull it, say good night and that was it. Sometimes we would hear it playing over and over until he fell asleep, sometimes we would hear it go off in the night, but that thing pretty much put him to sleep for about a year or more. Then one sad day it broke and the string wouldn't move anymore. I took it apart and tried to fix it, but the thing had just had it. I can't bare to throw it away, so it just sits on a shelf.
Anyway after that Parker was having a hard time with going to sleep, so I had this clever idea to sing him a song! Ha...clever? I never should have started that! He will cry for song after song, and if Brian sings to him then right after Parker insists that mommy sing one. But I don't think he understands what one more means because one more always turns into 10. He usually comes up with a favorite and make you sing that one over and over until your face turns blue. ABC's have been the most popular. If he wakes up in the middle of the night for whatever reason, which happens a lot, he grumbles in this deep little man voice while his eyes are still closed, "wanna song"! It is kind of funny cause I am usually half asleep myself, but just as a I am about to step out of the room I hear those words and I want to scream! It is getting old. We've been doing it for too long.
So after prayers I have been trying to keep to one song and then I just hurry and leave the room. He has this little night light that came with his crib and it has some buttons on it that make weird sounds that I guess are meant to be peaceful but they freak him out. So he just pushes the light over and over until he goes to sleep. Well the batteries on that thing finally died a couple of weeks ago. So I grabbed another one that we have, not sure why we have two. I stuck it on his crib upside down and he used that one for about a week. Then one night he started screaming. I went in there and the thing was running out of batteries too and it started playing deep slow music that really was kinda freaky. Poor kid couldn't get it to turn off. I tried to change the batteries but it takes 2 C size and we only had one. So I stuck it in there with an old one and it lasted another night or two and then finally gave up.
When we put Parker to bed we usually turn on the hall light and then go in his room and leave the door open a crack while we get him settled. Then when we leave we flip the light off. Well since nothing else seems to be working for him, Parker has been insisting that we leave the door open a crack with the light on! He gets really picky too, if the door gets shut to far he freaks out! Then you open it back up a little and he shuts right up.
Last night I put Parker to bed around 9:30 and I could hear him in there until about 10:15 or so. Then it was quiet for along time so I figured he was sleeping. It was probably about 11:30 or so and I got up and snuck over to the hall and quietly flipped the light. Just as I did it I hear this deep slow creepy voice say, "PUSH THE LIGHT!" Like it was a threat or something! I hurry and flipped it back on and then just went to bed. Not worth fighting with him about it cause it usually wakes up Eli and then I have to start all over with bed time! I am still laughing about last night! He had to have been asleep when I turned it off. It had been quiet for so long and I didn't hear anything after I turned it off.
I guess I don't know how bed time is at anyone else's house, but that kid is so picky! I am not sure if I should really be giving in to all this nonsense!
Eli is generally pretty easy. When he was a baby he was pretty much sleeping through the night from a month to 4 months or so. Then I don't know what happened. But it was still pretty easy to get him to sleep. I would just lay him down and he would want the blanket over his face. Kinda freaky, but that's how he wanted it and it worked every time.
Now I just lay him down with his binky throw the blanket next to his face and tell him to go to sleep. But he isn't sleeping through the night and that bugs me, and he is still in my room and that bugs Brian. I can't imagine how the night would be with the two boys in the same room keeping everyone awake. Eli wakes up at least twice a night to eat still and Parker usually wakes up at least once looking for his binky. I don't even know how to start it or try it. Sleep is just too precious to me!
I guess somehow we need to get Parker out of his crib in a big kids bed (also for potty training) we need to get him to give up his binky somehow. Then we need to get Eli sleeping through the night and sleeping in the crib in Parker's room. And I suppose we should probably invest in a decent night light!