To become... lifestyle: dream a little dream

* Collaborative post

One of the truly amazing things about children is their imagination. When they are young, they have so much to take in and learn, with new experiences all the time, and the whole world is open and exciting to them.

The way in which they view everything around them is just so special and I love watching Ethan play and talk to himself. He makes up stories, he role plays with his toys and he's at such a fascinating age where I can see him trying to make sense of things he has seen, heard or learnt. He's really chatty at the moment and the tales he tells us, and the way he uses logic or imagination, is pretty amazing. I have some really funny, and really astute, conversations with him!

After a spell of sleepless nights recently, he seems to have settled down now and is no longer having bad dreams. It was so upsetting to see him get so upset by something that had happened in a dream; for Ethan, he was playing out some anxieties from real life in his mind when he slept and it could actually take us some time to get him to snap out of it and realise that he was awake and nothing horrible was happening. 

Each night when we put him to bed, we always say 'sweet dreams' and he repeats this back to us too. And every morning, I ask Ethan 'did you have sweet dreams?'. 

As he's getting older, he's remembering things that he dreams about and it does make me smile the kinds of dreams a toddler has - just look at this video from Adjustamatic about decoding children's dreams...

Sleep is such an important thing and I feel so relieved that Ethan is back into a good sleep pattern, sleeping quite soundly from around 8.30/9pm each night until we wake him the next morning. A few mutters or mumbles here and there, but generally sweet dreams through the night.

Which, of course, means that we are enjoying a good sleeping pattern ourselves. Sleep deprivation is no joke and I remember all too well just how terrible it was when Ethan was a newborn and multiple wake ups every night started to take their toll.

They always say to sleep when the baby sleeps, but I found it so hard to do - perhaps if we had riser recliner chairs, I might have found it easier to catch 40 winks when baby Ethan was dozing during the day!

The need for a good night's sleep is something I take really seriously - I have always needed a decent amount of sleep each night and bed is probably my favourite place to be. That's why making our bedroom inviting, calming and the perfect haven for sleep has been a real mission of mine and at last, I think I have created the best possible environment for snuggles and sleep.

Our bedroom makeover will be shared in a post later this week, with plenty of pics, so be sure to keep an eye out and follow my dedicated home Instagram feed to see more soon.