Sleep

Why is everyone's first (or second) question, "So, is she sleeping through the night?". Does it keep you up at night wondering? My new all-purpose reply is that I'm happy with Cecelia's sleeping. Whether she does or not. Early on I got hung up on helping her establish a routine. I would try to get up with her at about the same time each morning to start our day. Now, when she's willing to sleep in a little, so am I. I figure that while I have time off of work, I should take advantage of this opportunity to sleep in and watch my baby sleep and listen to her breathe and love having her so close. I know that when we're blessed with a second child, Cecelia the toddler/preschooler/whenever we're blessed with said second child probably won't be quite so content to lay down and take a break from play in the early mornings. Some nights, Cecelia will start out in her room, but for the most part, now she goes to sleep when we go to sleep. Or she sleeps in the sling. Put her down and it's a gamble. She might stay asleep...and she might not. And again, we're ok with that. There will be plenty of time for structure. Jeff said something last night that really resonated with me. He told me not to do things because other people think we should. And quite frankly, I don't. But it was really nice to hear him say that and be reminded that we're in this together. And that we're flying by the seat of our pants. Jeff remarks about things like cloth diapers and sleep routines and tells people that it's easy for him to do it this way because he doesn't know any different. I love him for that. For trusting my instincts and going along with me for this wonderful ride called parenthood.

Back to sleep though. One day she'll sleep through the night. And one day it will be on her own. And I know that I'll miss having her closer. So, I'm not rushing to get to that some day.