Thursday early AM

So it's not a huge secret that Bethy gets the lion's share of exposure and interaction with Lauren. And one of those items has always been putting Lauren down for bed and naps....

Early Thursday morning... I believe in the 1:30AM timeframe, our little girl woke up, stood at the bar of the crib and called out for daddy.... After the first 15-20 minutes, I went in and tried to console her, check to see if she was wet or pooped...to little avail, as 15 minutes later Bethy attempted the same.

After another 10 minutes or so it was decided that I go back in, and see if I could get her to go back to sleep.

It's a crib... and although I have seen bethy crawl in and cuddle with Lauren in the past, it was an experience I was quite unfamiliar with. I layed her down, and situated her so that there was room for me, and she more than willingly layed down as well. It took probably about 10 minutes for her breathing to return to normal and for her eyes to start to close.....

For all the different experiences in the last 20 months, from changing diapers, rash, and disciplining on one end of the spectrum, this, is by faaarrrr the easiest part of having a little one. It may be a little cramped, it may not be the most comfortable, but knowing that your little one is consoled simply by the fact that you are there, and wants to take a nap, is easy pie.

Of course, Lauren knows the deal.... she falls asleep, and mom(or in this case dad) escapes. She has little tricks to try and prevent this.... a hand that is always outstreched, a toe that is always touching something. These are the obstacles that gently(remember, we're trying to get her to go to sleep) need to be moved so that later escape is as easy as possible.

In my world of work where there are timelines, and updates, this situation would be equated more to milestones, of which each milestone was marked by Suo Gan playing in the background on continuous loop.

In essence, I tried to escape a couple times, of which bethy seems to do with ease in the evening. a couple times during the first 40 minutes, unsuccessfully, and then once after another hour, also unsuccessful. Each time I would get into various stages of sitting up, where she would wake up and start to fuss. I would ask her "do you want me to hold you?" responded by a "yes." During subsequent attempts to crawl out would result in "hold you! hold you!" pleas.

Eventually I did crawl out, as Bethy decided to take the last shift towards morning, but either way, it was another great experience in being a dad.

Sleep tight little girl, daddy will come and hold you.