My daughter has turned me into a liar...

she slept with me from 2:30a.m. to 7:30a.m. fairly soundly. She had stirred several times, and did not seem to be falling back asleep very well, so I went to her room and rocked her. This seemed to settle her down, but she did not want to go back into her crib. well, I was sleepy. So I carried her into my room and laid her down on my side of the bed. She snuggled right into place, along with her raccoon, and both of us fell asleep shortly thereafter.

Way back when I was expecting, I read some books that somehow convinced me that I would forever harm my child and spoil her if I didn't start her off with "parent-directed", "start-as-you-mean-to-go-on" approaches. It's interesting that something can sound good and "common-sensical" in print, but then not suit your child's needs or your temperments when it comes down to it. Oh, some things I read were helpful, but honestly some things were just off-base.

Anyway, my daughter learned to fall asleep on her own pretty early on, which has been very nice at times. But as she is still a baby, there are times when it would be nice to be able to cuddle with her. The rocking chair that Tech Mom and Audit Man brought over has helped with that. And those evenings when I find myself being disturbed by a cranky toddler in the middle of the night and wishing hubby were home, well, last night was one of those. (Thankfully they are not that frequent, as hubby's required travel is minimal most of the time, and Bear is generally a good sleeper.) So when she snuggled under the covers and fell asleep on me after an hour of shallow sleep-wake time in her crib early this morning, I was glad to get some rest with her by my side.

Finding the balance of what works for us as far as routines go has been quite the adventure. My uber-flexible routine may seem like chaos to some people. I'm glad I'm learning to relax and adapt to what each day (or night) brings.