Sleep

It is amazing how much you can take something as routine as sleep for granted your entire life.

This month has been the craziest roller coaster of sleeping! The month before, we blamed the transition to the Pak N Play from the swing as the culprit for less sleep. This month, we have yet to find a sufficient culprit, but sleep has regressed considerably. So much so, that for a solid week she was getting up at 2am and deciding it was party time. For HOURS. Yes, of course a 4 month old would consider a large, darkened houses an exhilarating location... (?!?), but hours of partying with absolutely no one, you would think would be a slight let down, right?

Wrong.

The first few days I assumed some part of her daily routine was having a negative effect on her sleeping routine. It was brutal changing little things here and there, to no avail. But once I realized that no matter what we did, the results were the same, I was able to accept it as a phase and life was much better! She even got some extra tummy time in, and maybe there is magic in the air at that time of day (I wouldn't know, because I'm usually ASLEEP) because Riley was getting as close as she has ever gotten to getting up on all fours!

But thank goodness, by definition, 'phase' is a temporary thing.

This month also marks a breakthrough in good sleeping habits. It was one of those nights that she just wouldn't go down, and we were reading in our baby book that you should put down a baby when they first show signs of tiredness-eye rubbing, a tad fussy, etc-rather than waiting until they get overly tired. We were skeptical at best, but desperation is a good motivator. We decided to try it. We thought that at the very least, it would be a good habit for Riley in the long run, even if the transition was rocky. Sunday after church, we put her in her bed, told her we loved her, and left.

She was asleep in a matter of minutes, and she didn't even cry...!!!

It felt like we had discovered an answer to the biggest mystery in the universe, and it was AWESOME! It felt like we were floating on air as we cued the hallelujah chorus.
Since then, we are still delightfully surprised every time it happens, because honestly, it is way too easy to work so often!

On a normal day, she is typically up for two hours, then sleeps for about an hour and a half.  It is nice to be home with her constantly to recognize this pattern. When she was younger it seemed more sporadic, but it may have been more about both of us working and not being with her consistently to recognize a routine.