AUTHOR: Marty, a.k.a. canape TITLE: Night night Little Bird DATE: 5/12/2008 10:38:00 PM ----- BODY:

I sleep to the hisses and hums of a baby monitor now. It seems too soon to have my son in the next room, his own room, in a big crib all by himself. I miss him.

Truth be told, he sleeps better. He sleeps longer. And Guy and I have some time together after he goes down for the night. It is working for us.

There are still some nights when he wakes up an hour later and I bring him back into our bed. He fell asleep between us last night with his arm thrown up onto my chest. His face was still nestled into my breast and he slipped back into his little baby dreamland by giving up a shaky, nasally sigh.

Tomorrow night, Guy will be away for work again. Instead of nervous, this time I am a little excited that Bird and I will have a slumber party. We can climb into bed as early as we like and snuggle up.

I thought we would be co-sleepers for much longer. In a way, we still are. Bird stays with us after he nurses the first time in the night.

But putting him to bed now means that I lay him in his crib, stroke his little head, turn on his magic bear, and then leave the room, closing the door behind me.

It is so hard to leave him. Even just in the next room.

I'm in big trouble. I can see this already.

Labels: Bird, On parenthood

----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:

Two Lines On a Stick DATE:Monday, May 12, 2008 at 11:16:00 PM EDT I still pop into Bailey's room all the time just to look at her while she sleeps. Sometimes I wish we would have co-slept but then I remember that we tried and neither of us could fall asleep. But it sounds so nice! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:

whymommy DATE:Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 12:39:00 AM EDT Oh yeah. But I love your line "it works for us." Keep that one at the ready; it comes in handy. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:

Bubblewench DATE:Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 6:30:00 AM EDT That is super sweet... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:

Candygirlflies DATE:Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 10:59:00 AM EDT I am absolutely with WM on this one, Canape... You need to do what works for you, whatever that may be.

And, all children are SO different... My first child slept better in her own room (I missed her, too!!), and then my second slept with me for months and months (she was teeny tiny, and ate every-hour-on-the-hour... It was the ONLY way I got any sleep at all). Number Three fell somewhere in-between... She was a very easy-going little thing, and was happy to go along with whatever I felt like doing (thank God)!!

Enjoy him. That's what's most important about this precious, fleeting time.

Love to you- xoxo CGF ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:

katy DATE:Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 1:43:00 PM EDT I remember when my son was little and I would wake up and just wonder around the house waiting on him to wake up. I loved walking into his room when I heard him waking up and seeing that smile on his face when he saw me....I miss that. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:

Claudia DATE:Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 2:40:00 PM EDT I think the day I finally relinquished our daughter's monitor to the swap shop was the day * I * was ready to give it, way, WAY after SHE was. It's a mommy/comfort thing. ;) Found your blog via Amie's. LOVE it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:

Heather @36 balloons DATE:Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 10:50:00 PM EDT Ditto holding onto the 'it works for us' Sounds like you've found your groove w/ your sweet little one! I think of your guy when we're listening to Elizabeth Mitchell in the car! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:

Stimey DATE:Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 1:33:00 AM EDT I may have already related this story, but the first night I put my oldest in a crib in his own room I had a dream. In the dream I had put him to bed on a wooden bench in an outdoor shed. You think there was some guilt at play there? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:

Izzy DATE:Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 1:48:00 AM EDT My son is out of his crib now but he did always sleep better in the crib than in our bed. These days, when it's time for bed, I stick around for a little while and we play and snuggle and sometimes I even fall asleep with him. It's one of my favorite parts of our day. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:

Becki DATE:Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 4:38:00 PM EDT You always have to do what works for your family :) Enjoy your together time with Guy, and enjoy your slumber party with Bird! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:

Daily Verses DATE:Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 4:28:00 PM EDT I like both- it's good for G to have time in his crib, and it's good for G to have time in our bed. We've got it down to a "best of both worlds" scenario, and it seems like you're working on that too. :-) ----- --------