Saturday, May 1, 2010

One of My Favorite Things to Do...Sleep

In college I had a tendency to sleep in. I never missed class because I knew of this need for sleep at an early point in my college career. I made sure that I didn't have classes before at least 10 a.m. to ensure that I made it to most of, if not all, my classes in college. As a first time parent I'm learning that sleep comes at a high premium. The first month of Lola's life we slept when she slept. She didn't sleep often so this ensured that all of us were as rested as we could be so we could try to enjoy the first month of her life. The second month we began to feel almost like humans again. She was sleeping in 6 hour increments which meant that we only had to take one shift during the night. This was AWESOME!! I definitely noticed my mood lightening a bit and I was enjoying Drew and Lola much more than I had been in the past month. Then came the third month...FANTASTIC!!! Lola has decided that she likes to sleep from 9ish at night until 8:30 to 9ish in the morning. I have never felt so good! I feel like my old self again. I can go for runs and not feel like someone is killing me because I'm so tired. I find much more joy in my days since I'm not spending most of them yawning or trying to keep my eyelids open. And my favorite part of my day (other than just watching Lola and laughing at all of the amazing things she does to keep us entertained) is when we have a family nap in the afternoon. Now I know that co-sleeping is not big in the United States. There are many people that are very much against it. In saying what I'm about to say I don't mean to offend any anti-co-sleeping believers out there; this is absolutely my own opinion and I respect all other opinions no questions asked. I love taking a nap as a family with Lola in the middle! Since Lola was born I've loved sleeping cuddled up with her. This did not make Drew happy when she was a newborn, but I had to kind of play the "mommy card" and do it anyways. She would sleep on my chest on the couch because it was the only way that she would sleep for the first few days we were home. I really do enjoy being able to smell her cute little head whenever I wake up from a nap. It's a really good way to continue the rest of my day. I won't let her sleep with us at night. It's just some mornings and for our afternoon nap that I'll let her sleep with us. I don't want to start too many bad habits this early in her life. Cuddling with two of my favorite people is just a really good, relaxing part of my day. When an activity involves Drew, Lola, me and sleep it's bound to be in my top 3 favorite things to do of all time.


Lola getting ready for bed with her blankie that Great-Aunt Alyssa gave her.


She didn't really understand why I was holding the camera up over her head.


Our little angel sleeping on daddy's chest.


Two of my favorite people doing what we love to do...sleep!