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!)
She's not your daughter, so this picture may hold no sway over you. However, for me, this image has the ability to reduce me to tears...if I were in the right mood.
But that wasn't the whole picture. I had to zoom out a little more to reveal the punchline. On this particular night, she had been playing in her room, reading books to herself LONG after lights' out. (She has a large number of her books memorized and treats herself to "post-bedtime story bedtime stories", complete with voices for each character, on a regular basis) Seriously, Jason and I were wondering if she was EVER going to fall asleep. And then suddenly, the house was quiet. I stalked back to her room and found her peacefully sleeping, with this book close at hand. (The entire title, if you're not familiar with it is, "I' Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed"....how's that for irony?)
