Sleep, Glorious, Sleep!

I am a sleeper. I love to sleep, I have always loved to sleep. When I don't get enough sleep, I don't really function well, some might say I become a bit, well... difficult. Because of this, we have worked with each of the girls to teach them to sleep relatively early in their lives.

Recently, Ayelet has been so wonderfully giving me the gift of sleep! For the past few nights, she has been going down after her late night feeding (10:30 to 11:30 pm ish) and sleeping until 5:00 am ish! I forgot how excited I would be about getting 5+ straight hours of sleep in a night, I feel like a new woman! And, even after waking up at 5:00 am ish to nurse, she has been going back to sleep until 9:00 am ish! Thank you Ayelet! But wait, there is more - she has continued to sleep in her bassinet - not in our bed.

As wonderful as this is for me, I must admit, it is bittersweet. Since this is my third time going through this, I am realizing that she is entering a new stage of her life and that this is only a first step to her increased independence. I am acutely aware that by the time she is Michaela's age, not only will she be sleeping through the night, she will also be getting herself ready for bed, reading in bed by herself (sometimes with a flashlight under the covers), getting up on her own in the morning, getting herself breakfast, getting herself dressed, and so on and so on. Never again will I regularly spend that one on one time with her at 2 or 3 am.

I remember my cousin used to call those late night feedings business meetings. In many ways it is so true. When little ones wake up at those hours of the night, it is for a specific purpose. They wake up, need a diaper change and need to eat. Once those things are accomplished, it is back to bed, back to sleep. I believe that time together is more than that though - it is touch, snuggles, provision of sustenance. It is probably one of the few times in their lives where Mom is a welcome companion in the middle of the night. I know that I don't want to miss that.

So, as excited as I am to get my sleep back on track, I am also reminded once again, to cherish every minute of this journey - mine and my part in Ayelet's.