The Diligent Hand Shall Rule

Alyssia has made SO much progress. She slept from 7 until 7 last night!!!! She woke up twice (once at 1 a.m. and once at 5 a.m.) and cried for about 30 seconds and then went back to sleep by herself!! No mommy intervention needed. Going down for the morning nap today was pretty easy too. It only took me about 15 minutes. I walked out when she was still awake. She uttered a few weak protests and then fell asleep 10 minutes later. The afternoon nap was a bit more of a challenge for some reason, but eventually she did it! I'm so excited about the night sleeping--it's like winning the lottery. 11 months of no sleeping will change your perspective on the importance of things. The ONLY thing you care about after going through this is sleep! Two nights ago when I was trying to make my exit from the nursery, I thought if a coreographer could watch me, she could come up with a very entertaining ballet. Escaping the nursery at night used to require a very delicate dance--testing every floor board before putting my full weight on it, lifting my hand from the railing of the crib with utmost care and caution not to make even the tiniest sound, timing my exit with the swell of the orchestra playing away on the night-night CD so the violins would mask the inevitable creaking of the door. And then there was the leaping in the hallway. We've learned which boards creak the loudest and how to avoid those at ALL costs. I don't think I can say that I'm going to miss doing the dance. Now that Alyssia is putting herself to sleep, I wait until I see the breathing slowing and I know when she is "under," then I smile down at her, put the crib side up and walk out of the room. Easypeasy.