I had my first real taste of Mommy Power this past weekend. We were visiting with family, and my MIL was holding Delma. D was getting fussy and fidgety so my MIL passed her to me. The second she got into my arms she instantly quieted. Whoosh. Calm. She just stood on my lap facing me and gnawed on my necklace and was happy as a clam. How amazing that I can have that effect on another person, that I can be all she needs to just feel safe and centered. What a blessing.
D has a good bedtime routine, we feed her dinner at 6, give her bathy at 6:30, and at 7 she gets a bottle and goes to bed. She likes her routine, and goes right to bed with no fuss and puts herself to sleep. When she gets her bottle, we shut her bedroom door so no kitties wander in and distract her, we turn the light down low so she knows it's nighttime, and we turn her white noise machine on. We really try not to mess with the routine, because we're pretty much obsessed with her sleep schedule and we don't want to do anything that will screw it up.
Josh usually puts D to bed, but he's out of town this week. Last night as I was giving her a bottle and singing to her, she got all squooshy and cuddly. She just wanted to watch my face while I sang to her. I realized we've been robbing ourselves of a really special time with her, right before bed when she's all sweet and sleepy. When she was tiny, at night we made sure to keep feedings to "just business," no playing or anything that would stimulate her, to get the idea of night vs. day really cemented in her mind. We've kept that up, but I think now her bedtime routine is well established enough that we don't need to be so hyper-vigilant. I think now we can give up a bit of that control and follow her lead. If she's really exhausted, put her right to bed. If she wants to squirm around and have some cuddles and kisses, then by God that kid should absolutely get cuddles and kisses.
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