Sweet Moments

I just had the sweetest half an hour right now with the babies. This afternoon they were quite cranky, as I think they've both started to get runny noses (if they get sick, this will be the third time in their young lives, and EVERY time it has been within 3 days of being in the church nursery! UGH!). I was having a particularly patient day for some reason and didn't get overwhelmed by it as I often do. I brought them upstairs for bath time and for the first time I put them directly in the tub (I've been using a baby tub inside the big tub). Kenna did great, sitting still for me the whole time. Nathan wanted to crawl everywhere and it was a much bigger challenge. But, I guess it's time to do it. So anyway, because I was feeling particularly peaceful and nurturing despite all this, I decided that I was going to rock Kenna and sing to her because she had been so upset all afternoon and I thought she wasn't feeling well. Now, that might sound like a typical thing to do with babies, but it's not for us for a couple of reasons:

1) I sing to them a lot, but more like fun songs during the day, and never "lullaby" types of songs. I don't have a very good voice so I guess I have always felt funny singing in any kind of serious way.

2) I decided in the very beginning that I would always put the babies down awake, rather than rock them to sleep. I read in several books that this is best for their sleep habits in the long run and decided to follow through with it. Consequently, I have never once actually rocked Nathan or Kenna to sleep!

So back to tonight. I took Kenna and sat in the rocking chair with her facing me and her face over my shoulder. I started rocking and singing some of my favorite slow hymns from church. In the meantime, Nathan was standing in the crib, just watching this all unfold (but listening quietly!). She was so still, just melted in my arms. I just kept singing and singing and rocking, and enjoyed it so much...suddenly I looked down and Kenna was sound asleep with her little hand clutching my shoulder still. It was such a precious moment. I couldn't believe MY singing had been soothing enough to put her to sleep. I felt so motherly. :) I went and put her in the crib and then picked up Nathan. Nathan is such a squiggler, I thought for sure I wouldn't go two for two. I started rocking and singing and sure enough he was trying to crawl away. So instead I stood up and held him, swaying back and forth. Kenna had woken up when I put her down and was looking at me. I started singing the same songs again and as soon as I did, she closed her eyes and went to sleep. It was SO sweet. Then, the amazing happened, and Nathan became like jelly in my arms while I sang even though he didn't seem tired 3 minutes before. I sang for a while and put him down in the crib. He wasn't asleep but was all glazed over. Normally Nathan screams as soon as he is put in the crib, but he just laid there on his back looking up at me quietly. I started singing again and rubbing his head gently. He closed his eyes so peacefully and drifted off to sleep while I rubbed his head. You have to know Nathan to understand why that's crazy. He has a tough time going to sleep and always fights it, always goes on his stomach, and always tosses and turns for a while. The fact that I actually was able to "soothe" him to sleep amazed me. I left the room with my two sweet angels peacefully drifting off. It was a very, very sweet moment.

I still believe in putting babies down awake, but now that they know the routine and do go to sleep on their own every day, I think it will be nice to do some rocking once in a while. :)