Saturday, April 17, 2010

Change comes unannounced and can be easily missed

Sometimes I feel like I blink and suddenly S has changed.  I look back and think, "When did that happen?"  If I don't stop and reflect each day, I miss her growth and find that it's a week or more before I notice the difference.

Today I reflected back on S's sleep growth.  I heard her wiggling and stretching this morning and glanced over at the clock.  7:00 am.  Really?  7?  Wait, yesterday she slept in her co-sleeper until 7 too.  Did she do it the day before as well?  I don't mean she slept through the night.  But this progress is great.

Typically S decides that sometime between 3 and 6 am is morning.  I never know what each day will bring.  I usually give up and pull her into bed with me and spend the rest of the "night" sleeping with her in my arms.  I absolutely love waking her to her sweet face next to mine but my sleep is light, very light, when I'm holding her.  This new change is a welcome one.

The second change I realized today is that I don't have to work to get S back to sleep after each feeding in the night.  Even when she wakes a little more, I can lay her right down and after a little wiggling, she falls back to sleep.  I used to have to rock her in my arms a little bit after nursing her.  I'd spend 30 min to an hour each time she woke up nursing and rocking.  Now I spend 10-15 minutes.

I probably shouldn't write these things because I do know that things can change again for the better or worse in an instance. But for now I will smile and appreciate a week of deeper, longer rest for us both.

No comments: