Sleep Sweet

If you had told me two years ago, or even one year ago, that we'd have a good sleeper I would have laughed in your face and called you crazy.  I always had hope that Ayden would grow into a decent sleeper but there was definitely doubt in there.  But these days, we do not dread putting him to bed at all.  Getting through his nighttime routine can be tough at times but actually getting him to sleep at night and for naps really is a piece of cake. 

This is particularly on my mind today because for the Summer Intensive schedule at the dance studio, my sister scheduled me to teach on Tuesdays from 1:30 to 4:30.  Ayden usually goes down for his nap between 1 and 1:30 so for these 4 weeks of classes, I have to put him down over an hour earlier than he is used to in order for him to get his hour in.  This was the third week in a row of doing that and each and every time has been just as easy as any other day.  We go through the same routine every time we lay him down for sleep, walk out of the room and he goes right to sleep without protest. He goes back to sleep easily if he does wake up, he transfers smoothly from the car to his crib/carrier/stroller and he sleeps through noise (like when we are hammering honey super frames in the middle of the night). I am so grateful to have this ease and flexibility these days because I have experienced what it is like to have unpredictability with a child's sleep.

When Ayden was smaller I never knew if he'd be asleep for 15 minutes or an hour plus.  On days that I was feeling brave I'd start a project only to be interrupted 15 minutes later and on days I wasn't feeling so brave, I'd sit there waiting for him to wake any moment only for him to sleep for an hour and a half.  It was so frustrating! The inability to count on a specific amount of time stressed me out and weighed heavily on me mentally.  Now I know I have at least an hour to count on and I can get so much done in that hour.  Any time over that is just added bonus and whenever he does wake up I am able to greet him with refreshed excitement.

I know all of this predictability and down time in my life is about to change so I am taking a moment to celebrate it and I am savoring these last 5 or so weeks before we're in the trenches again.  Hopefully this time around we can rest assured, no matter what kind of sleeper Logan is, that predictability will return with time and that even the worst of sleepers can become great sleepers with a little patience and persistence.  I am hoping if any mothers of young, not-so-great sleepers are reading this out there, you can find some peace in knowing that it IS possible for good sleep to come your way.  Do what you need to do to survive now without worrying too much about long-term consequences.  Survival mode is not a bad thing and it is definitely not permanent!

We give Ayden a kiss and tell him to "sleep sweet" before we leave the room and these days, sleeping sweet is definitely what he does!  YES!

We ended our evening watering our orchard and watching the bees zooming in and out of their hives.  It was a hot but really great day.

Our fig tree that came all the way from David's grandma's garden in Mississippi!
Can't wait to have figs to eat and preserve.

Has your child gone from one sleep extreme to the other?  How did you handle it?

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "We Have A Parrot"
And two years ago today: "Beware of Baby Trainers"

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