I have gotten nap time down to a science in this house! There is NO giving up Noah's naps till he goes off to Kindergarten. He and Ellyotte get up at 7:30ish each morning, eat breakfast and Elly and I take Noah to school at 9:00 Mondays-Fridays. Elly and I return home, she naps from 9:30-11:00, then she goes into the jogging stroller, we exercise, then back to pick up Noah at noon. Noah eats in the car on the way home, we play, they wear themselves out and then down for a nap at about 1:30is: Elly in her crib and Noah....... in our bed. I actually started that because it was vital to me when Ellyotte slept, Noah HAD to sleep so I could sleep!
Since she was born, Ellyotte has been a hard and serious, lone sleeper. I never had to rock her to sleep; we just lay her down with her kitty and paci and she's content. Noah, however, has always needed tending to. We had to rock him from day 1 because of colic, then out of habit. He started traveling between Hawaii and the East Coast at 2 months so he got used to being held: in the Bjorn, in the glider, being held period. And that's fine with me! It has required thousands of hours of attention in order to get Noah to sleep deeply - unlike his sister - but we haven't minded it.
Now, he goes to bed in his bed at night and at some point, ends up in our bed! We are convinced we will have to upgrade to a king size because soon Ellyotte is gonna realize that her "Bubba" is in mama's bed and she's not! Dan and I are okay with this - these babies are growing too quickly and we love the red headed bundle that ends up between us each night.
Tonight Noah had been asleep for about 2 hours when I heard him crying. This is unusual. So I go into his room and he holds his arms up - meaning he wants to be held. I gladly picked him up and for the first time in a long time, I was allowed to rock him. I cradled all 50+ pounds in my arms and with the lullaby CD softly playing in the background, I held my "baby" till he fell back to sleep.
As I rocked him, I looked down at that freckle covered, almost 4 year old nose and I was swept away in memory. Can it be that many years ago that we were worried about his eating and sleeping and pooping habits? We were so sleep deprived and clueless. Now, we are thriving parents to an active little man who loves Jesus and protects his sister. And as I rocked him, the sweet book I have read to him countless nights came to mind ("Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch):
"...The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"
But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be...."
Noah Everard Beall may be that crazy red headed kid in that book, but to me and to his daddy, he is that precious bundle of love we brought home that night almost four years ago.
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| One of the first of MANY naps together |
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| Daddy loves this red head |
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| Don't judge... I was almost 2 weeks late. - Honolulu, Hawaii |
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| Finally home. |
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| Precious 3 year old |
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| almost 4 years later, a still beautiful sleeper |
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| Noah and "soon to be" Uncle Adam |
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| Uncle Bob, Noah and Graddy in Destin - New Years 2012 |
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| Us! Christmas 2012 |
