We have moved to the next phase of baby sleeping: separate bed, separate room. Upon realizing that Emily rules the roost when she sleeps with us (picture this: me on the edge of the bed on one side, Ben on the other, Emily horizontal between us), Ben and I decided the time had come for us to let her sleep in her crib. We moved her crib into the other bedroom and attempted to put her to sleep in there. The first night was horrible. She was up every hour until I put her into bed with me out of pure exhaustion. The next night was the same thing. On Sunday, we both came to the realization that we had to let her cry it out. So we tried it. The first night was miserable. The next night was a little better. And so on. Last night was the best so far, down without a peep. In fact, when I do try and put her into bed with me (because I love to snuggle with her) she wakes up and wants to play. She is growing up.
How do I feel about this?
At first I was glad. She is finally sleeping through the night! All right for mommy! Then the impact hit. She is sleeping through the night without me. How could this happen? As a newborn she needed me to feed, cuddle, and soothe her. Now, she can soothe herself! She doesn’t need to eat at night and she doesn’t need me to cuddle her to sleep. In short, I mourn her independence. I should be comforted by the knowledge that I will have other babies. I should realize that this is important in her development. I should recognize all these things. I don’t. I want Emily to stay my baby girl forever.
After the shock of all these feelings had finally worn off, I began to realize how Heavenly Father must feel. He wants so badly for all of us to return to Him. He mourns all of his lost children. Yet, He needed to let us come to earth so that we might be tested and taught and willing on our own to come back and live with Him. We needed to grow up.
Craziness accompanies Emily as she becomes more mobile and more independent, but I will embrace it and not mourn as she grows. I love this little angel.
To verify these new feelings, allow me to illustrate how much I am enjoying her new independence.
She loves her rice cereal. We feed it to her 2-3 times a day and she eats it all up.
She also loves to eat her spoon. Or maybe she enjoys feeding herself? Whatever the reason, she sure is cute.
She is becoming stronger every day. She does 20 pull-ups on the chair to strengthen her arms, shoulders, and back.
When I put her to sleep in her crib, she rolls onto her tummy to sleep, but she doesn’t like when I put her on her tummy. She likes to roll to her tummy and fall asleep. When she wakes up, this is how we find her.
Bath time occurs here. She loves to sit in the sink, eat the faucet, and drink the water. I guess she likes her water warm.
I love to wrap her in her pink towel and cuddle her all the way to the bedroom where I put her diaper on.
She loves the bed too. It is the perfect playground with many toys.
She recognizes her mommy and daddy. When either of us comes into a room, she gives us the sweetest smile, raises her arms, and grunts to let us know that she would like us to hold her. We cannot deny her desires.
It is a wonderful thing that social scientists have disregarded that old notion of “spoiling your baby”. It they hadn’t they would be very upset with Ben and me. We hold her all the time. I may not have as much time as I would love to have playing with Emily, but the time I do have I take full advantage of. Oh, the joys of motherhood.
6 comments:
She is beginning to look more and more like a child and less and less like a baby. I am so happy for you, you get to sleep (though I think I can understand how the transition is, as much as a non-parent can). The little one is growing up, and with such great parents, she'll grow into a great adult.
Oh wow! I haven't been on your blog in way too long. She is so big and so cute, with lots of personality. Congratulations on the sleeping-through-the-night thing. That just gave me a whole new sense of being to actually get my night's sleep. If you're truly missing getting up in the middle of the night, then I am guessing another baby is on its way to your family real soon. :)
Ha! Not that soon!
Oh..... I am in love with this little lady, lol! How is it possible that an already TOTALLY perfect baby can get more and more beautiful? It makes my heart so very happy to hear the love that you have for this little sweet pea. What an amazing example she has for a Mother. We sure love you all!
She is blessed to have you. Please be sure she keeps up those 200 pullups/day.
Grampa T
That was a really good post. Your blog is really entertaining to read, in case you were wondering.
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