Friday, July 22, 2011

Oh sleep, where art thou?

Sleeping is my hobby, my passion.  A weird one at that , but it is what it is.  Ever since I was a little girl, I could be lulled to sleep almost anywhere including on a horse.  An afternoon nap on a Sunday afternoon is absolute heaven to me.  When Alex was born, I soaked up nap time like a junky.
Things are a bit different now.  My beautiful son is waking up almost every hour to two hours at night.  Whoa.  This is not easy for the girl who happily falls asleep at 8 pm for  fun.
I now find myself playing musical beds to my son's unrest.  Sometimes when he wakes, I will fall asleep on the single bed we set up in Jesse's room for situations like this.  Other times, I'm sprawled on Alex's bed with her arms dangled over me.  And every once in awhile I'll land in my comfy spot in my bed with Charlie the dog nestled in the crook of my legs.  It seems that when I hear him crying, I automatically awake from wherever I am upstairs, clog downstairs, grab a bottle from the fridge, rock Jesse to sleep while he sips a minuscule amount of formula, lay him down, clog back downstairs and sleepwalk my way to wherever I may land up there.  I have to tell you the best part, though.  Jesse seems to find comfort in grabbing my face and resting his sweet lips on my cheek and simply comforting himself there to sleep.  Every single night hearing those little lips pucker on my face is worth every second of sleeplessness; I don't care what anyone says.
Some people say to let him cry it out.  It's not that easy with adopted kiddos.  I feel strongly that we're still building trust.  Every time he wakes up and sees my face, he smiles.  His smile, in my mommy heart, feels like it's telling me, "Thank you for being there again."  I will be there until he knows in his heart that yes, I'll be there every time, and there's no need to worry.
So, I'm a little tired right now.  It's ok.  He's worth every sleepless moment.

PS.  We had the kids' pictures taken.  Here's a peak of my sweet babies on our photographer's blog, Melissa Hanley.  Enjoy!

Thanks, Melissa!  We love the pictures!!!

4 comments:

  1. Keep gettin' it done, Mama. You'll sleep again one day. For now, there are more important things!

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  2. Hang in there! I am with you on the sleep; I LOVE to sleep!!! We finally pulled our little baby in bed with us. It only took about a month and then she was in the pack in play for another month right next to our bed. I would also have to hold her for the 1st month or so during nap time; otherwise, Little Miss would NEVER sleep. We have been home for 6 months now and she is taking 2 hour naps and is sleeping all night in her crib in her room. I just think they need the reassurance that you will be there when they wake up. Our baby still fights going to sleep, but once she is down it is for the night. I just think they are afraid they will wake up somewhere new with no one familiar.
    It sounds like you are doing great...continuing to reinforce your bond. You can do this and will make it!

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  3. BTW - Love the photos. The hat is simply adorable!

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  4. It's so good to hear other coming home stories! You have no idea! Thank you so much for sharing!!!

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