Treasured Time

After going to bed easily for months, Noah started struggling with bedtime. He would fuss, throw fits, and cry for a long time. Since he was about 3 months old, we simply laid him down, tucked him in, and said "night, night" until The Change.

The crying was such a change from his usual cheerful self that I began to dread bedtime. I tried to figure out if he was overtired, not tired enough, suddenly afraid of the dark, too warm, too cold, anything I could think of to explain his change of behavior. When we held him to comfort him, he would settle down but as soon as he was placed back in bed, the crying resumed. So we waited it out. Tensely. Prayerfully.

I'm not sure when things changed but eventually we worked out a new routine. After prayers with all the boys, John or I take Noah to his room and have some snuggle time in the rocking chair. Some nights we skip it and Noah does fine with that. Some nights I feel like rushing. But most nights I treasure the extra cuddles. We sing songs together and hug while we rock.

"Dear Jesus,

Please protect my child through the night

Keep him healthy

Keep him breathing right

Give him sweet dreams

Guard him from fear

Hold him close when I can't be near

Amen."

My baby is already two years old; I don't know how many more nights he will want to snuggle. Children are so precious and they grow up so fast.

And so I practice slowing down and cherishing the moments I have.