Flower Power

Gotta love the drool glistening on his cute little chin. :)

Ayden had yet another awesome (for him) night last night. Once we got him back to sleep with our song, he woke at 10 to eat and I went to bed after that feeding. He did have a random wakeup around 12:45am but was back to sleep within 10 minutes without my having to pick him up. I just laid my hand on his back and whispered that I was there and that he could go back to sleep and he settled back in and drifted off. He didn't wake again until 2:30am to eat and then again around 5:15 and then to our bed we went. He's been waking for the day between 6:30am and 7am pretty consistently. It was really funny yesterday morning when he woke me up by smacking his little hand on my cheek.  I opened my eyes and he was looking at me and smiling, hand still there.  I wonder what he thought when he looked over and saw me just laying there with my eyes closed. He wakes up peacefully now which is so pleasant but it doesn't always wake me like the fussing did. He still loves for us to sing our "Good Morning" song to him and he smiles so big as soon as he hears it. Another new funny morning quirk of his is that he waits to start using his voice.  He is very happy and smiley, yet silent right when he wakes up.  I guess he likes to give his voice a little time to warm up and then he starts cooing over and over in his adorable sleepy voice when he's finally ready to "talk."

David also loves that Ayden's sleeping better because it pretty much guarantees that he'll get to have some time with him before he has to leave for the day.  Ayden and I try to go have lunch with David at work if we sleep in and he doesn't really get to see us before he leaves.  On a normal day, David gets home from work around 5:30 but Ayden takes a catnap around then and is ready to go to bed for the night between 7:30 and 8.  That's not much time together in the evenings and David really misses him on those days.  Everyone in the family is definitely benefiting from better nights.  I know we will still have phases where sleep patterns are affected but we've had three good ones in a row now so I'm thinking (hoping??) we are taking steps in the right direction!

The difference I see in myself when Ayden is sleeping in 3+ hour increments compared to 1-2 hours is amazing.  Little Miss joined us today and I had gotten Ayden and myself ready for the day, made the bed, put in and switched over a load of laundry, emptied the dishwasher, fed the pets and myself breakfast,  watered our veggie plants, and had some play time with Ayden all before she got here at 9:00.  On the days after Ayden has chosen to party all night, I suppose I just walked in hazy circles without even realizing it because I probably only had a few half completed projects done by the time the doorbell rang.  Apparently we really do need at least a few hours of uninterrupted sleep to function productively.  Who knew??

The kids took turns napping which was nice because it's tricky to juggle them at the same time.  I don't know how mom's of toddlers and infants do it.  While Little Miss was sleeping, Ayden gave his new travel exer-saucer that David's parents got him a try.

He's still a little small for it but he liked it long enough for me to snap a cute picture in it.  I think he'll like it more here in the next couple of months.  While Ayden napped, I fed Little Miss lunch and we drew pictures together.  Overall, it was a good day.

After Little Miss left, I decided to run out to Kroger to deposit a few checks that had been sitting in my wallet.  These flowers were on display for sale outside and they made me so happy!  

They are called Peppermint Pinwheel Phlox and they may just be my new favorite flower.  I think I may have to buy some to plant by the shed in our back yard.  They were small, delicate flowers and our wedding colors were pink and white so obviously I'm a fan of their color scheme...

Ayden fell asleep on the way home and I was a little bummed because I really wanted to take his afternoon nap with him.  I was bummed because he usually wakes up during the car seat to bed transition and doesn't fall back to sleep.  But for the first time he stayed asleep, resting on my shoulder just like kids do in the movies. 

I carried him upstairs and he did wake up a little when I laid him down but as soon as I snuggled up next to him he went back to sleep.  I love that I am starting to see that my presence is comforting and soothing to him.  I can see it at night when all I have to do is whisper in his ear and I can see him relax and drift off to sleep or when he's fussing and immediately stops as soon as his nose is nestled into my neck.  I am his mommy and it is just so awesome to be that special person to someone and even more awesome that I am really starting to see how true it is.

David got to come home early from work today so we got some extra time together which is always the best.  I finally cooked the kohlrabi that we picked up at the farmer's market over 2 weeks ago and it was delicious!  We'll call us waiting so long to cook it an experiment to test how fresh locally grown produce really is.  I guarantee that store bought kohlrabi wouldn't have been just as good as the day we bought it after two weeks!

After dinner, we took a walk and I couldn't help but admire how happy my clematis is this year.  Blooms all over!!  My mom bought it for me the first summer we were in our house and it comes back bigger and happier every year.  

Tomorrow is story time!  We missed it last week so I'm looking forward to taking him.  Wish us luck for another good night!!

~Sarah