Me: "Who has the best seat in the house, me or daddy?"

Adam: "Well, Daddy's is nice, but yours is best. Your's is squishier."

Monday, March 14, 2011

"Go to sleep, little creep..."


I am often asked the question, "How is Jonah sleeping?" I usually answer, "Pretty well." but a better answer would be, "Pretty well in my arms, or not at all."
.
That's how his naps are, anyway. I have never been the mama who beat up the mailman for rustling the mail too loudly while baby is napping.  I think that sometimes a light sleeper is created by the hiper-vigilance of well meaning parents who defend the sleep space like it was the Hope diamond. So we vacuum, talk on the phone, and play musical instruments while our babies sleep right in the same room.  Mostly it works out great, and our babies sleep soundly while search helicopters circle the neighborhood after several rounds of gunfire.  But Jonah is like Adam was. When Addy boy was younger and I would slip into his room to do my nightly rounds, just the sound of my pants swishing would wake him up, and I don't even wear corduroy.

I hear the sleep gurus out there who have their babies sleeping through the night by six weeks. Yes, you are right, if I let him cry it out, eventually he would fall asleep. Sorry, ladies, but I just ain't that kinda' mama. My kids all sleep in my bed with me until they are about two, and guess what? Contrary to what popular myth would project for my cramped nocturnal future, not a single one of them is still sleeping in my bed.

But somehow Jonah has a radar detector that senses when I am thinking of putting him down so I can visit the little girl's room.  Unassisted, Jonah sleeps for...count 'em... five whopping minutes.  The other day I decided to slip away as he drifted off.  In five minutes he was up, and he stayed up for the next 8 hours.   By the time fatigue finally put him into a coma, we were all fried.

So he sleeps. 
In my arms. 
And I am so OK with that. 
Because he is my last baby. 

This is the last time I get to do all of this, so do it I will, and with quiet gusto.  Amazingly, he saws logs while I nibble his ears, snores while I toodle my fingers through his hair, and even stays in dreamland while I clip his nails and clean out his ears (and other crusty parts).  It's actually nice to have a while every day when I can just love on him, appreciate the miracle that he is, and remember to stop and smell the roses. 

I mean, the toeses. 

Hold a sleeping baby? 

Twist my arm.

*****

"Go to Sleep, Little Creep" (sing to the tune of Lullaby and Goodnight)

Go to sleep, little creep
or I'll punch you in the melon
sleep snugly little ugly
or I'll poke you in the eye

Nighty-night or I'll bite
off the end of your nose
go to sleep, little creep
or I'll snap off your toes.

1 comment:

Becky said...

My little one was like that, I have to nurse her to sleep still, but if I'm lucky I get to put her in her rock and play and get some work done, whether it school work, go wee, or get a drink....but like your son, she gets a wink of sleep and she is energized!!! And now she is 8 months, she wants to still sleep in my arms every night and nurse all night but she gets annoyed and uncomfortable but when I put her next to me or in the rock in play it's not good enough, she needs to be in my arms. And I'm ok with that. I love waking up to her playfully grabbing my nose or scrunching her face and breathing in and out fast. I enjoy that extra bond we have as mother and daughter. And I'm a single mom, if it means her sleeping and me getting sleep is snuggling with my baby, then I'm happy to do it :)