Considering my team (the Cleveland Browns) had a 5-11 season and were generally one of the laughingstocks of the NFL I really didn't have much of a vested interest in either of yesterday's games. I was happy when Baltimore was defeated (as next to the Steelers, the Ravens are my least favorite team-- as is the case with most Browns fans). But with Pittsburgh missing the playoffs and Baltimore being eliminated already I had no strong feelings about any of the teams playing... So I'll skip the first two and go straight to the third match-up of the evening...
My wife & I have been blessed with a daughter who is generally a good sleeper. For the most part she's been sleeping through the night every night since she was about 5 or 6 weeks old. Initially it was for about 6 hours straight, but by the time she was 3 or 4 months old it's been more like 8 to 9 hours straight. So once she's asleep, we're generally "golden."
Getting her to sleep in the first place is a different story. Last night she did NOT want to go to bed. We know the tell tale signs that she's tired; the rubbing of the eyes, the yawning, the drooping eyelids... And after her bath last night she was exhibiting all of those signs. So we put her to bed. That was about 8:30
She may have dozed off, but she couldn't have fallen into night's sweet embrace yet as around 9 we heard the tell-tale whimpering coming over the baby monitor. I snuck up and tiptoed into her room to put her pacifier back in her mouth. That often works. She'll usually drift right back to sleep.
So I gave her her pacifier and started to sneak out the door, but in the darkness what should I see? Her head popped up like a jack in the box (she had been sleeping on her stomach) turned and looked at me over the bumper through the slats in her crib, her lip quivering. She had the symptoms of a cry coming on. But I snuck out of the room anyway-- wishing and hoping she'd just lay back down and fall asleep. Just two or three steps down the hallway towards the stairs and a full on wail comes from her room. So I returned, picked her up and attempted to soothe her back to sleep.
I thought I was successful, I really did. So I laid her back in her crib and before I even have a chance to step away her head is back up her eyes are looking at me all sad and that lip is quivering again... How can I resist that?! How can any father? So I pick her back up and take her back downstairs with me. As we pass a mirror in the hallway I notice her face light up like a Christmas tree as if to say, "HA HA! I won!"
This continued several times (and each time we'd get the victory grin from her when walking by the upstairs mirror)... by midnight the score was Daughter 6, Parents 0. Around 12:15 my wife told me to go to bed and that she'd get her to sleep. So that I did. I wasn't quite fully asleep when my wife finally came to bed so I took a peek at the clock... 1:15 am!!!
My wife & I were both night-owls growing up. We believe this is just God's way of balancing things out a bit...
Monday, January 25, 2010
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4 comments:
This reminds me of the long nights I had with my son when he was a baby. I remember him pulling the hair on my arms while I was bottle feeding him to sleep.
drew: My daughter likes to reach up and grab my nose when I'm feeding her her bottle. She also likes to grab my cheek and squeeze for all she's worth.
No rest for the weary!
Your story reminds me of when I was born-- the times when the nurses would take me away from my mom to the nursery/maternity ward, I would cry and scream bloody murder the entire time. But the instant the nurse would give me back over to my mom, I was passed out sound asleep. :)
I loved holding Keven in my arms in the wee hours of the night breastfeeding him....he never, ever would take a bottle even if I was away from him for hours.
BUT I don't have fond memories of him screaming his head off at bedtime :)
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