reminding myself to slow down

Judah is a wonderful baby. We are SO blessed! He's very easy although I can see that look in his eyes saying "Just wait until I start crawling!" In the meantime we are very much enjoying this stage. Breastfeeding is going well (Finally!!), he's sleeping well, gaining weight, growing...it's all going great! The past 3 nights he has slept through the night! Last night he slept from 10:30 to 4:30. I call that sleeping through the night because 6 hours is a long time for a breastfed baby to go without eating. Dr. Sears says that for a baby under the age of 6 months, sleeping through the night is defined as sleeping for 5 hours or more. The two previous nights were from about 12-6.

Naptimes are also pretty easy. He takes a nap at some point in the morning and will sleep in his crib by himself. We've been going on walks lately so he sleeps in the stroller during the walk. Afternoon naps are the same way but they range from a 30 minute nap all the way up to 2 hours if someone is laying with him or he's on our bed. He can sleep so much longer if I lay him on our bed for a nap..I guess cuz it's so comfy! Babies don't get the privilege of having lots of soft bedding and cushy mattresses, but it's for their own good.

And then there are days like today....

I went for a swim- yes it is September 26 but we're in Houston. That's what you get to do when you live in Texas. He laid down with Grandma for a nap and woke up screaming after about 30 minutes. So I went and got him and laid on our bed to nurse. He eventually fell asleep again so I thought "Great, I can get stuff done!" I eased myself away from him because he was in a light stage of sleep. After about 5 minutes he started making little whimpering, moaning noises as if he were having a bad dream. All of a sudden it burst into a full-on scream. I ran over, tried to put the pacifier back in, but he wasn't having it. I got my face close to his to let him know I was there and tried to keep the paci in, but it just wasn't working. So I laid down with him again and started nursing and he immediately calmed down.

Sometimes babies need to nurse- not just for nourishment, but for comfort. And that's okay. That's one of the many benefits of breastfeeding. He fell asleep with the breast in his mouth and I decided to lay there like that for awhile. It took a lot for me to lay there and not immediately pull away. My mind was racing with all the things I needed to get done- the pile of clean laundry on the couch, the stack of thank-you cards by the bed..the to-do list goes on. I am a very task-oriented person so it took everything in me to just lay there with my baby and not move when I had all those things on my mind that needed to be done. But I had to remind myself that I needed to lay there and cherish this moment because he won't be little like this for long.

I never want to look back someday and wish that I had spent more time with my children or cherished these moments more. I'm really glad I was able to force myself into taking time to cherish the moment with my precious baby today. Maybe eventually I will get to a point where I don't have to force myself!