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| He wants my Toms. |
Liam started sleeping through the night every night (for 10 - 12 hours at a stretch) around 10 months old or so, so these last 3 weeks have been particularly blessed.
I'm getting sleep finally, and it's amazing how good a body feels after true rest! For the first time, I'm getting deep sleep and probably all my REM cycles. Thank you, Jesus!
Plus, we've finally gotten Liam on a bedtime routine. We began to enforce a bedtime routine shortly after his sleeping-through-the-night routine emerged naturally and became regular.
Perhaps this was our cue that a bedtime routine could finally begin AND work for us. We didn't read any books and we didn't do any particular method of crying- or not-crying-it-out. We just started a pleasant routine. And Liam fell right into it.
It goes like this: At 7 PM, Daddy starts the bathwater. By 7:30 PM, baby's out and warm and jammied. Daddy then reads a goodnight book to the little man.
At 7:40 PM, I take over and nurse him on the rocker for exactly 20 minutes while we listen to the Rosary on CD. By the time we hit the Third Joyful Mystery, our little man is groggy and ready to stretch out and sleep.
And so I lower him into the crib, cover him with a comfy blanket, bless his little forehead with holy water from Lourdes, and sneak out the door, leaving the Rosary CD playing quietly. Then Daddy and I get to enjoy two hours to ourselves before its our bedtime. And we don't really have to be quiet, either. We can talk at a reasonable volume or even enjoy a movie, like we did last night. This feels amazing!
If we're out late and can't stick to the 7 PM bath time, no worries. All of us manage to adjust, somehow, and as long as we go through the routine of bath, books, and nursing, it seems to work no matter what time it is.
Did we ever try this before? Yes. But it didn't work previously. It just wasn't time for then, I guess. But it is time for it now. :)
Praise God for this new, delightful season of our lives! It was a long time coming. :)
