You never know until you try

Cooper's self initiated sleeping location testing program took an unexpected turn last night. In the last week, he has tested and rejected the following locations; his bed, smack dab in the middle of his area rug, and inside his cardboard box fort. The latest location? Deep underneath his tiny, low bed, on the rock hard and cold hardwood floor.

I really would not have guessed this was a spot he would have tried out, but then again, I'm not a creative toddler (anymore). Last night he went to sleep OK in his room and then fell out of his bed at 11pm. That alone isn't odd- he does it about once every two weeks and it is usually around when I go to bed. I think that's because my rustling around the house to lock up tends to make him half-awake, which is when he probably rolls over and accidentally falls out. No big deal, I gave him a hug and helped him get back into bed clutching doggie and blankey. He was asleep in less than a minute.

Then at 2am I heard some nervous whiney yelling from his room for a minute or two. I was about to open his door when it stopped, so I decided to leave well enough alone and go back to bed. I figured he'd had a bad dream. In retrospect, I think that was not the case.

At 4am I woke up to more nervous whiney yelling, this time a little more insistent. I went into his room- pitch black- to presumably help him get back into bed, or maybe pat his back from a bad dream. But he wasn't in his room... it seemed. Not in the bed. Not in the fort. Not on the rug. Not behind the door or hiding behind his craft table (he tends to stumble around confusedly after falling out of his bed, so you can't quite predict where he'll be). He was... invisible? Nah, that made no sense. So I turned on the light. And that's when he got really upset. "MAMA COOPER STUCK MAMA HELP STUCK STUUUUUCK!!"

My first reaction was, unfortunately, to burst out laughing. How on EARTH did he get so far under his tiny low slung bed? Unbelievable. So I lifted his toddler bed (it is very light and very small) and he crawled out, looking dazed. I did my best to stop laughing as I gave him a hug and put him back in bed, but he definitely was mad at me. Why was I laughing at him for getting stuck under the bed! Geez... parents are so rude.

But I am left with this- why under the bed? WHY? and for that matter- why the sleep location testing?

Who knows.