And Baby Makes Three

Here are a few pictures of Benjamin playing in his playroom, plus one of him just before I woke him up one morning. He is 10 1/2 months old now and gets sweeter everyday. His latest milestone is his ability to mimic sounds that we make, which has also led to his first official word: “uh-oh.” More on that in a later post. On with the pictures…

Benjamin likes to pull the string on his Leapfrog Learning Pal and listen to the Alphabet Song.

This little activity center is all kinds of excitement: music, lights, action. It's a favorite destination in the playroom.

When Benjamin is ready to leave his playroom, he peeks through the gate looking for us. When that doesn't work, he throws toys over the gate into the kitchen or entryway. He's a smart little guy!

Benjamin fell back asleep one morning after standing up in his crib for awhile. It looks like he fell asleep sitting up, and then fell forward onto one of his legs. He doesn't seem to mind, though.

Most nights are good nights at our house. We have very few of the dreaded middle of the night baby awakenings. Usually we don’t hear a peep from Benjamin from his bedtime of 9:30 p.m. to his waking time of 8 a.m. I am extremely grateful for the uninterrupted sleep I enjoy.

Benjamin typically only wakes up during the night once every couple of weeks. Usually a quick dose of Tylenol (for teething pain, which is the most common explanation for him waking up), and a few minutes of nursing (to calm him down) do the trick. Being awake for 15 or 30 minutes every couple of weeks isn’t bad at all.

But, occasionally I am reminded how spoiled I am. Last night was one of those times. The time was 12:50 a.m., and Benjamin’s cries were very sad – could have been an “I’m in pain” cry. Do babies have bad dreams? Sometimes it seems like Benjamin just wants to be comforted by me, and I wonder if he’s had a bad dream.

Anyway, last night I went in to see him, and it quickly became apparent that this wasn’t a typical Tylenol and nursing night. Neither of those seemed to help. When I put him back in his crib, he cried just as much. (Usually at this point he rolls right over and goes to sleep.) After 15 or so minutes, I went back in and tried nursing him again and giving him Orajel for his gums. He was even more upset when I put him back in bed after this. Several minutes later, I returned and thought perhaps it was gas pain. But the Mylicon didn’t seem to be kicking in. Brad woke up about this time and came in to try to comfort Benjamin, but he was inconsolable.

I was at a loss, felt helpless, was sad that my baby boy was so upset, and started wondering if he had an ear infection or some other unknown medical ailment. Now it was about 2 a.m., so Benjamin and I had been awake for an hour. He had tear-stained cheeks and a sniffly nose, and he was out of breath from all the crying. I even noticed that tears had run into his ears. I sat down in the glider to nurse him one more time, and as I nursed him, his eyes drifted to the pile of books on the table next to us. He reached out for “Goodnight Moon,” a book that Mama C gave him for Christmas.

Benjamin's first encounter with the book. We've read it many times in the past few weeks.

I have never read Benjamin a book in the middle of the night, and I wouldn’t have thought to do it if he hadn’t drawn my attention to the book. But I am happy to say that reading him “Goodnight Moon” was the ticket to getting him back to sleep. He sat and listened attentively as I read about the “three little bears sitting in chairs,” the cow jumping over the moon,” and the “quiet old lady who was whispering ‘hush’.” He was excited by every turn of the page, but at the same time he was calming down. The catch in his breath (the remnant of crying) was slowing down, and he was starting to relax. We said goodnight to the bears and chairs, the kittens and mittens, the clocks and socks, the toy house and young mouse, etc.

It was difficult to see see the last page in the dimness of his nightlight, but I was just able to make out the final words, “Goodnight noises everywhere.” And with those words I closed the book, hugged and kissed Benjamin goodnight (he gave me a great hug back), and put him in his crib. He didn’t roll over and go right to sleep, but he didn’t cry either. He just contentedly snuggled down and smiled up at me. Sleep came a few minutes later when I was tucked back in my own bed.

I have always loved “Goodnight Moon,” since my own childhood. Now I have another reason to cherish it. What better book to lull a baby to sleep than one about saying goodnight? What are some of your favorite bedtime stories, whether from your childhood or ones you read to your kids now?