A surprise by my pillow

Now THAT'S tired!

Little tired?

I keep finding her like this:  half swaddled, binky under her chin, rolled to her belly, LEGS THROUGH THE SLATS, totally zonked out.  

It happens to the best of us

Even ninjas get tired

Tuckered out

That's what cousins will do to you...

& your dolly

Always ready

Teresa is by far our most energetic child.  She jumps, runs, or twirls everywhere she goes!  I peeked in her room at naptime the other day & saw this.  Her feet were practically touching the floor.  Guess she had to go to sleep prepared to leap right out of bed!

Multicultural Education

While we were browsing through a Shutterfly catalog the other day at all the smiling faces, Rebecca came to a stop on a Christmas card with a Korean family. Then she quietly asked me,
"Are those karate people?"

The Great Communicator

When you're ready for your nap, don't bother telling anyone, just fall asleep in your high chair.
***

Teresa: Mom! Sock upside down. Want upside up!

Amen!

Teresa is going through quite the "independent" streak right now. She only really wants to do things that were her idea from the start, & keeps me running after her little wild self all day long! She also is a pro at climbing in & out of her crib. A few months ago she might climb out once or twice right after bedtime but never even thought about it at naps. Now anytime she's supposed to lay down it is a good 5-15 times sending her back to bed. Argh. I feel like we've tried pretty much everything short of strapping her in there. We are running out of ideas & gladly welcome suggestions that have worked for your kids!

Anyway, Darren has started occasionally asking her a few guided questions as he puts her to bed about what she needs to do. Here's her shortened version from today at naptime.

Darren: Night, night, Teresa.
Teresa: Night, night, Daddy.
Darren: Lay your head on your...
Teresa: Pillow. And go to sleep! Amen!

Sweetness

A serious case

of crib-head

Praise to the Holiest in the Height

I love sleep.
I treasure it.

As long as I've known Darren he has been an amazing sleeper... a trait I hope that he has passed onto our children. ;) If he's tired morning, afternoon, evening, night, give him two minutes (maybe less) & he is out cold. Amazing. That has never been a talent of mine.

Sleep is one of those gifts I never truly appreciated until after having kids. Now when I can sneak in even just five minutes of semi-uninterrupted rest, it's heavenly. I rarely fall asleep but at least I can regroup my thoughts, take a deep breath, & ask Jesus to guide me through the day.

He's the One that I'm praising right now. Teresa has been in the process of weaning & has been taking it pretty well. I was hoping that it would help her sleep better at night. Well, she's gone for almost a week with maybe two night awakenings total. Hallelujah! I finally remember what it feels like to be rested! It's only been, oh, maybe 12 months. (Or 15 if you count third trimester "sleep") ;P

The strawberry on top of it all (cherries aren't my thing), yesterday at nap time & bed time as well as right now, she went down without nursing. Just a hug, a baby doll, a music box, & a few minutes of squeaking, then ZZZ. It was certainly NOT that easy with her older siblings. Rocking, swaying, armloads of books, singing, repeatedly climbing out of the crib, 30 minutes of screaming... not for her. Thank you, God! I know it may seem silly, but I was really prepared for a battle of wills. (If you've seen her lately, you'd know why!) Maybe this is just a fluke, maybe it won't last, maybe more molars will disrupt it all, but I don't care. I'm revelling in the quiet for now. I'm happy for her. I'm happy for her siblings who share the room. I'm happy for us who don't like to hear our baby cry. I'm just plain happy!

God is good!