Day 1, Blog 1: Cuddles

This morning my toddler woke up around 5am. Contrary to my usual pattern, I decided to let her cry for a few minutes to see if she would put herself back to sleep. After all, there are 2 pacifiers in her crib, a teddy bear, a sock doll, and two blankets. Surely any one of those would be enough to signal her that it is time to go back to sleep. But to no avail. You see, she went from wakeful to fearful and left sleepy behind.

Usually when she won't go back to sleep I just bring her into bed with me. She spent the first year of her life in our bed after all. But lately she has only wanted to play once we bring her into bed and we spend 2 hours wrestling with a toddler who is not sleepy but very interested in pinching our noses.

So this morning, we went into the dark living room and cuddled up in the rocking chair with a blanket. Now I have never been a morning person, but strangely today it was just so peaceful rocking with her. She wrapped her little arms around my neck and laid her head down and I may always remember that moment. It was as if I was saying to her "Mommy is here, you can go back to sleep" and she was saying to me "Oh thank goodness, I couldn't bear it without you". What joy. Blissfully I was able to put her back down in her bed and we both slept in extra late this morning, but what a precious moment with my daughter. So to all you weary moms, find a moment in the day (or night) to appreciate what a gift you have in your toddler. Most importantly, make sure you get in a cuddle.