but I’m glad that we seem to have crested the hill on bedtime. Our routine has evolved to a little light reading before bedtime (”Who’s Under That Hat” and “That’s Not My Kitten!” are our latest hits), a few minutes of nursing in the rocking chair, followed by some snuggle time before putting Graem in the crib. I really love how snuggly she’s gotten: she sits straddling my lap facing me, wraps her arms around me, and buries her face into my chest. Sometimes she’ll stroke my sides softly with her hands, and I can just feel her calm down and her breathing slow. We sit like this for about ten minutes, and I tell her how much I love her. Then I pick her up and tell her that it’s time to go to bed, and put her in the crib.
Most nights she just sits down and rubs her eyes, I kiss her on her head and rub her back. Then she actually pushes my hands away as if to say, I’m ready to go to sleep, stop bothering me! Other nights she cries a little and stands up, but then I stay and hug her and rub her back until her tired little legs fold and she plops back down.
Tonight was amazing, I put her in the crib and she curled up on her knees and fell right to sleep. I never thought it’d happen, but it has. In the first few nights of trying, I would lament how much she’d cry, and just wish that she’d just be able to sit or even play in the crib without crying. And now she does it! It’s so much easier to walk out of the room knowing that she’s comfortable and/or asleep. I love how she sleeps, curled up like a little bug with her butt up in the air.
Lately she’s been waking up at 11 PM or 2 AM, and generally I try to get her back to sleep in the crib by changing her usually-soaked diaper and nurse her a bit. There have been nights that she’s gone back to sleep and stayed in the crib until 7 in the morning–which is always shocking. Either Shawna or I will spontaneously wake up at 6 or so and ask the other, Where’s the baby?? And then realize that she’s slept the night through.
Surprisingly I’ve been a lot more tired since she’s been out of our bed. I think it’s because I would basically nap for an hour with her as I put her to bed, and sometimes fall asleep for the night. Now that I have my night to myself, I fart around either on the computer or watching tv, and don’t get to bed until 11 or so.
Being tired and spending less snuggly sleep time with Graem has made me less motivated about work, or at least getting to work. My MO used to be getting into the office early, since Graem usually sleeps in with Shawna, and I’d rather do the time in the morning than come in late. But now it’s so hard to get out of bed when Grammy is warm and snuggly that I struggle to get to work on time. I hope it’ll pass as the days get longer and I get to spend more awake time with Grammy after work.
