One day after Christmas, exactly on my little guy's two-year-and-six-month-old mark, the most unthinkable happened -- we were apart for one night. Yes, apart, not just in different beds or in different rooms in the house. I mean in different cities, with different companies.

And it happened so suddenly, without any preamble or practice and without any easing into it. What is even more remarkable is the fact that it was MY BABY, err, my little guy, who made the decision (of going away from me overnight and for nearly 24 hours hehe).

Yes, it is a big deal. Since birth, this little guy had always slept by my (and my husband's) side. We have been breastfeeding and cosleeping since birth. I have never spent a night away from him. Wherever I go, he goes too. In as much as I long for a very quick travel with my husband, too, I just could not imagine HOW, given our circumstances with our clingy little boy. :)

Clingy, yes, to the point that I have a self-imposed curfew since he just would not go to bed without me home yet. And believe me, he checks on me in the middle of the night and makes sure we're sleeping side by side. I don't know if he is fully awake when he does, or if he does so subconsciously and half-asleep, but oh he does, all the time. I just could not envision that he (or I) would be ready to be apart from each other overnight soon enough.

And it happened. Too soon and all too sudden, actually. He just decided last minute to go out of town with my parents and siblings and a cousin. We probably asked him a hundred times if he was sure that he wanted to go without me, and if he understood that he won't be sleeping with me. Which means, no dede (breastfeeding) time for the night, too. He was sure and he was very decisive -- YES, yes, yes. Even bid me a sweet "See you tomorrow Momma!" a number of times. So off my family merrily drove to Subic with their giddy two-year-old passenger on a Saturday morning. My husband and I went the following day.

Reunited (in Subic) and it feels so good. :)

And how was it, might you ask? It was goooood all throughout their waking hours. I wish I could say it was good from start to end, but of course, there was some crying involved in the middle of his sleep. It follows that there were different levels of sleep deprivation, too, both on his end and mine. LOL. And, can you imagine, the little boy flat out REFUSED TO SLEEP at first even though he was so sleepy already?! Yes, even before his usual bed time, he had already declared that no, he was not sleeping that night, not until Momma comes the following day. And oh boy, did he try his best to really stick to his words! He did fall asleep eventually, at somewhere close to midnight. Whew.

At least, one of my biggest fears that day -- that we might have to drive to Subic in the wee hours of the night to come to his rescue, because it just did not work out -- did not happen. Halelujah! All in all, we made it, we graciously made it.  I did miss him (A LOT!) and I was pretty sure he missed me terribly, too. He literally never left my side again when we came to fetch them. LOL.

Milestone weekend for the both of us. I love you, Thirdypooper!

It was not the easiest of nights (especially for my family hehe), but it sure was one for the books and one of the many milestones not just for my little guy, but also in my parenting journey. :)