the Moore 4

She crashed early last night: after 7:30pm. When Carice doesn’t nap somewhere in the early day it’s a hard sell sometimes to stay awake until bedtime. And keeping her awake is what we are aiming for despite her exhaustion. A nap at dinnertime? Bedtime is probably, oh… midnight or so. Heaven help us all.

So off she was carried as a cozy bundle in Daddy’s arms from the Karlstad to her toddler bed. She woke up at 9 pm-something . She has done this once before, too, but this time I decided to see if she would head back to dreamland.

So I scooped her up and headed to her chair.

Cali poked her head into Carice’s room a couple times and I got a little heart-panicky. To tattle on big sister… a call-out for Daddy. He poked in, but by then it had appeared Cali had learned her lesson.

Sitting there with Carice was like old times. Well… how ‘old’ can I really say when my baby girl is only 2 1/2. But it was at least like a former time in our lives when she and I would sit in her room, in her chair and wait together for sleep to come. Then I would carry her to her bed.

Only this time instead of a bed pillow for support and comfort while sitting there, I had our red, funky, armed-heart IKEA pillow. It worked just fine. And despite its looks, her chair is super comfy.
I loved sitting with her again. She is and has been my Cuddle-r. I love to smell her head and kiss her sweet skin while holding her in my arms. Now that she starts off for sleep in her bed, I miss out on all that deliciousness for the most part. Cali was just as delicious when she was young. They just have that sweet scent that is so intoxicating! :)

At times she has been in her bed, not asleep yet, and leans her body over as I wrap my arms around her and lays her head, cheek side down on my upper arm. It’s heaven. Yes, I’m still there until she falls asleep; sitting on the floor. She (I) say ‘her’ prayers and I kiss her goodnight. The floor is not nearly as nice as the chair, but I don’t mind staying.

I’ve pretty much always been there with my girls until they have fallen asleep for the night. Or Daddy has, I guess.

As Cali got older we had her try sleeping on her own. Or at least at one point the iPod entered in as a companion. She has done it just fine. She has had moments and we are in her room at bedtime now to start off with her, but usually we can tell her goodnight after awhile and she is okay.

Maybe Carice will be the same someday.

Maybe Carice would do it now. I haven’t ever tried.

But I don’t really want to. I like being with her plus why mess up what’s working? At least working for me. I guess I like knowing she is asleep for the night because then I know I can turn that part of my brain off for the night, too, and move on to something else unworried. Mostly to a little uninterrupted me time. My introverted-self needs a little down time.

But at least I got one more chair session with her last night. She fell asleep after not too long and I carried her to her bed. She kind of flipped her body as I was getting her blanket situated, but she remained there. Well, until I found her in my bed at who-knows what time. She was kind enough to let me sleep until about 7am.

Another cherished return I was grateful for.

Posted by Shelley