Sleep Well, My Darling

I admit it, I have a cuddle addiction. There is just something so intoxicating about a sleeping baby. The soft sighs, the warmth of their little furnace body, the way their hair curls with the moisture created from nap heat, and the quiet, the sweet sweet quiet. I cuddled Teresa and Frances with unabashed abandon for the first three months of their lives, and I do not regret a second of it. They are only that little for such a short period of time, and, I admit, allowing them to nap in my arms was selfish, but I think they will forgive me for it:)

The only problem with allowing my sweet babies to nap in my arms was, well, they got used to napping in my arms. I trained Teresa to nap in her crib when she was three months old. It took three days, and man, was she a napper. If napping was an olympic event, she would win. She still naps for about two hours in the afternoon. I just finished training Frances to nap in her crib, and I have to admit, I miss my afternoon nap partner. I do however, need some time to myself, as does she. The key to Frances napping was letting her learn to self soothe. This was hard. It involved hours of crying (her and me), but once she got the hang of it, she napped like a champ. Now she can fall asleep anywhere. She just pops that thumb into her mouth, her eyelids flutter, and bang, she's zonked. Now that she is properly rested the crying and crankiness are virtually non-existent, and everyone is happier for it. Plus, if I turn the monitor up, I can still hear those soft sighs.

Asleep on her playmat after an exhausting workout session including trying to eat toes and rolling over.