What Sam Likes about Brighton

When we ask Sam what she likes about living in Brighton, she unfailingly replies:

“The Stairs”

and

“My stripey bed!”

<img src="http://gallery.accapehart.com/d/9458-2/DSCF9672.JPG" alt="Sam asleep during "quiet time" in Brighton" />

Here she is in said stripey bed, having dozed off during “quiet time.” After a couple of years of being a very reliable napper, Sam is now giving up her daily nap. Alas. The transition began shortly before her third birthday, but now that she is sleeping in a bed, it’s just so much easier for her to get up and play in her room. So I’ve instituted daily “quiet time” and Sam can decide whether she sleeps or plays, as long as she stays in her room and is quiet. This week I’d say she’s 50/50 on the naps and I never know which it’s going to be.

The real surprise was seeing her adopt some of her “quiet time” habits in her nighttime sleep. Most mornings now I find her in bed with every single book she has in the UK tucked under the covers with her.

Then the other night AC and I put her to bed, expecting her to zonk out immediately because she hadn’t napped that day. But a little while later I heard the rustling of pages. I peeked in her room and spied her sitting part way up in bed, “reading” a book in the dark.

I didn’t have the heart to admonish or stop her. I’ve never slept with books under the covers (to my knowledge) but I have spent many nights reading when I should have been sleeping. I guess it won’t be long before Sam is asking to borrow my book light. Perhaps even as early as tomorrow night, as we’ll all three be sleeping in a studio apartment in… Paris!

Mais oui. We head for Paris tomorrow morning to spend a long weekend in the city of lights. What will Sam like about Paris? I’m predicting the croissants and the carousels.