Sunday Night

Tate hasn't slept terribly well since we returned from NYC.  I expected the first few nights to be rough as we bed-shared while on vacation and even during naps I would place him on our bed with a few strategically placed pillows!  Amazingly, we got some great sleep while there (though we were a tad warm).  He got back in his groove about 4 days after being home and started STTN and napping well.  Actually sleeping longer both at nighttime and naptime.

Then BAM!  The past week he has been waking up at night.  He still naps great at home and at daycare, but nighttime is fraught with wake-ups and crying out anywhere between 2-4am.  And since we share a room, I'm apt to just hop up replace the pacifier if need be sooner than if we were in separate rooms as I want to get back to sleep ASAP.  The past 3 nights I've just brought him into bed with me which made him a very happy camper.  And the night before last I just took him out of his crib when I got in bed in hopes he wouldn't fuss in the middle of the night.  He didn't.


On top of it I wake up randomly when I used to sleep like the dead.  Tate usually isn't making a sound except for his sweet breathing, but I wake up, look around and then berate myself for waking up.  Which of course then keeps me awake longer!


But I love sleeping with my sweet babe curled up beside me.  There's nothing like that beatific grin in the mornings as he waits for me to roll over and give him a hug.  I love hearing Momma!!  Then he asks for Scout, his favorite game on my iPhone!  :)


So as I ponder how long he will sleep tonight, I am in awe of my wee one.  And I wonder if deep sleep evades him as he is making amazingly huge strides in his vocabulary these days.  I can't believe I ever wondered when he would talk.  The sentences, the phrases, the slang...it all keeps me on my toes.  I've long stopped keeping a list of all that he says.  And his comprehension!  He knows some colors, his numbers to 10 and when to use words in the right context.  Wow.  


And as he has matured intellectually, he has become more of a cuddle bug, more attuned to where I am and what I'm doing.  About a month ago, he toppled over or tripped and came running to me to hold him.  I gave him kisses, hugs and loves, and he then stepped back and went back to doing what he was doing.  That was new.  Prior to that, if he hurt himself and I was around, I had to go to him to offer comfort, sometimes accepted, sometimes declined.  Now the slightest infraction has him running for Momma!  And though I wish nothing would ever hurt him, I love being the one person who can soothe his aches and pains.  Speaking of pains, he now knows what a boo-boo is, and is sure to point out each and every new one to me for kisses.  He must learned that at daycare.  He plays those boo-boos to the hilt!  We get lots of kisses and hugs on those boo-boos.  Again so very sweet.


So, we're growing up here. We started swim lessons a week ago this past Friday, so he's had 2 lessons.  He absolutely loves the water, so I knew we had to get this going as soon as I could.  We're in a 12 week session which I definitely intend to continue past the summer.  He's doing great.  I do wish I had started him last year, but this is where we are now.  I can't change what I didn't do, so we'll go from here.  I go in the water with him until he is 3.  We are going to Saint Street Swim, and the instructors are just fabulous.  We had a great weekend this weekend and last.  We moved up to the next level at Gymboree, so now he's in Level 5 and is among the youngest.  In the previous class which was ages 16-22 he was one of the oldest, and I felt like he was just too mobile.  Since he was such an early walker (at 10 months), he was all over the place, and some of the little ones were a bit intimidated.  I like him being the youngest in the new group (ages 22-28 months).  He has a great time running around, and his favorite parts are the bubbles and the slides with the lambskins!  


We spent the remaining part of this weekend in pools with friends!  My little fish just gravitates to the water.  I couldn't get his swimsuit on fast enough.  Though it's 100 degrees or more here he just goes and goes.  Everyone helps me with him as I'm the only un-partnered parent.  They hold him, goof off with him and get him in the water when I'm off getting sunscreen, towels or my glass of wine!  What an amazing life we have.


So tonight I enjoy a glass of red wine, listening to my tiVo of the last episode of Oprah as I type this.  I have a list of things to do, but I want to savor these memories of my son.  His smile, his laugh, his tears, his frustration, his joy, HIM.  As his body processes all that is happening to it these past few weeks, I know we may be in for some rough nights.  So I may be up again tonight.  But that's ok.  On those nights when I get out of bed to go reassure him or bring him into my bed, I raise my head and heart up and think there are millions of mothers around this wonderful planet doing this very same thing....loving their children, be they bringing glasses of water, leading the newly potty trained to the bathroom, chasing away a monster, nursing a newborn, finding a lost lovey behind the bed or just going to check on a child because she's a mother.  And then I  don't feel as tired or frustrated.  I just feel blessed.  What an amazing gift.  Mothering.

Ready to go down the slide!

LOVING the bubbles!!!

Hanging at Nikki and Rucker's pool!

Such joy!