More sleep talk

Sarah's in a routine now, it's kind of nice. She goes to bed without complaint at about 7:00 each evening. Sometimes, after a particularly busy day at daycare, she's ready to pass out before 7:00. I kind of hate those days because that means I scarcely get to see her at all. For the past week or so, though, she sleeps like an angel from 7:00 to 10:00. Then, just as we're finally falling into bed, looking forward to some well-earned rest, she starts crying.

It's always the same. I trudge upstairs (there's always enough bouts of crying for Jeremiah and I each to get a turn or two), resenting her timing. I scoop the wailing baby up in my arms and she immediately stops crying. Then she nuzzles into my neck and goes back to sleep, drooling on my shoulder. At this point I have found I can put her back in her crib without immediate repercussions, but I never manage to do that. I'm always up there at least 15 minutes because she is warm, and tiny and has a sweet-scented, fuzzy head and I always think - soon, this won't happen anymore. I won't have quiet time with a sleeping baby on my chest, her fuzzy hair touching my cheek. So I rock with her, even though she's sound asleep. When I finally manage to disengage and go back downstairs, she lasts long enough for Jeremiah and I to fall back to sleep, then screams again.

Sweet, though she may be, I long for a return to the mornings when I awake feeling rested.