Mommy Too

I have always said that we have been so fortunate with JD and his sleeping habits. He has always slept so well at night and even takes great naps pretty consistently.

When JD was under a year, we used to put him in the "sleeper" hold to get him nice and drowsy with his pacifier and then we would lay him in bed to fall asleep. He put himself back to sleep in the middle of the night by finding his pacifier. Life was great.

Then when he turned one, we decided to get rid of the pacifier "cold turkey." JD actually did just fine, but we had to start letting him figure out how to go to sleep without the pacifier (and stay asleep).

So we started laying him down after his bedtime milk with just a hug and an "I love you." As you can imagine, we started off the first couple of nights with lots of crying. I came in every 10 minutes and would pat him on the back for reassurance and then I would leave again. After about 1 hour and a half of crying each night (for about 3 nights), he figured it out and went to sleep. And stayed asleep!

As a mother, it is heartbreaking to hear those cries and think that you are the cause for the crying. But I always knew it was for the greater good and that he had to learn how to get himself to sleep! I would sit on the stair outside his door and just pray that he would figure it out fast! I would look at the watch every few seconds to see if it had been 10 minutes yet!

But even those cries don't compare to the new and improved two-year-old cries that we get every once in awhile now.

Last night, JD was beyond tired because his nap was cut short by about 2 hours (he usually takes a 3 to 3 1/2 hour nap in the afternoons). He was very much a "mommy's boy" all afternoon and said "no Daddy" (poor Daddy) and was very clingy and teary all afternoon until bedtime.

When Jon took JD up to bed (as he does every night), all we heard for about 10 minutes was "Mommy too, Mommy too, Mommy too!" in hysteric sobs.

Now if that doesn't break a mother's heart, what would??? It takes crying to a whole new level when you hear your name involved! I can't wait to see how it evolves over the next year!