Zzzzzzzz

Hallelujah, Nash is officially sleeping through the night! The first few nights when a baby sleeps for such an extended period of time is exciting but also nerve wracking. I don't benefit from uninterrupted sleep because I wake up every hour wondering why he hasn't woken up to eat and if he is still breathing. It has been a long road to get to the point of lengthened night time sleep. I think the most burning question on every mom's mind when she has a newborn is when she is going to resume normal sleeping patterns. It was the most pressing issue to me with both of my babies because I do not function well on minimal sleep. In fact, in lieu of reading novels, I have become well-read in infant sleeping literature. I have become familiar with many theories and read books cover to cover including Good Night, Sleep Tight, Baby Wise, The Happiest Baby on the Block, and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I have implemented ideas from all of these books, customizing what is best for Nashy.

We now have a good little routine down that contributed to Nash's sleeping through the night without many tears, but it took a lot of consistency. I say "we," but Troy actually skipped out on the hardships of sleep training this time around because he was in New York. I think that sleep is the greatest gift you can give your child and I firmly believe that I have happy and calm children because of the stickler I am at following a routine. Maybe I shouldn't take all the credit though, because I caught Nash doing this several times over the last few days:

What a glorious day it is when they find their thumbs and can soothe themselves to sleep! I also think that Nash might be left handed because Blake sucks his right thumb and is right handed, and Nash sucks his left thumb. He has a left-handed grandparent on both sides, so we will see. Regardless, I am a fan of thumb sucking, and I am definitely a fan of the nine hours of sleep that Nash is now giving me each night!