First Thing in the Morning...

Today marked the first morning in I can't remember how long that I woke of my own accord. Eli's been sleeping like a champ for a few weeks now (up to 12 hours now!!), but Norah has recently decided that "our special time" is anytime between 3-5am. I don't know that she consciously chose this obscure window of time, as I'm pretty sure that she isn't really awake when she comes and crawls into bed with me, (I think we have a little sleep walker on our hands), but she's been doing it like clockwork for a while now.

Typically she comes to my side of the bed, and gropes around until I reach down and help her up. Then she wiggles and thrashes mercilessly around until I finally give in and take her back to her own bed. (Usually after a quick trip to the potty, which she also manages to sleep through, while still taking care of business) Even though she's asleep through all of this, somehow she knows when I try to leave her room, because she always submits a pitiful request to, "Snuggle, Mommy?" and I usually do for a little while (who could deny such a sweet petition?) before heading back to my room for a few more precious winks before Eli's morning feeding.

At any rate, for whatever reason, today she never came. I was a little uneasy when I awoke, so I went to check on her in her room, and discovered that she has, apparently found a new sleep position. (Well, not entirely new--I used to occasionally find her like this in her crib when she was smaller, so I guess old habits really do die hard) It made me laugh, so I had to get a couple pictures. (As you can see, the quilt I worked so hard on keeps her really warm)

....and since I had the camera out and was in the neighborhood, I thought I'd grab a quick picture of Eli too. He wasn't making any noise, so I expected to capture a sleeping baby picture, but what I got was even better! This is the way I find him on most mornings. I peer over his crib, he sees me looking at him, and I'm greeted by a jubilant smile exuding pure, 100% elation at my mere presence. Talk about a serious confidence boost! And now, I have that face memorialized in photo form for all eternity. (He also does this cute, little "happy wiggle" because he knows he's about to get breakfast when he sees me--I really need to catch that one on video--it's priceless!)