Naptime

I rock her to sleep in a very comfortable rocking chair from Ikea. After lunch, we head upstairs and I put on a bit of sleepy-time music as I rock her to sleep. Sometimes, like today, she's in a bit of a playful mood, and we spend a minute or so sharing her binky or making funny faces before I give her a last kiss and snuggle down into the chair. As I gently rock both our eyes close and we drift on the cusp of sleep. Something usually startles me out of my drifting -- usually it's the sound of her deep, even breathing, indicating that she's fallen completely asleep. With a few last kisses and a lot of regret, I put her in her crib and sneak downstairs. There's too much work to do to spend an afternoon napping with my baby. But I love those few careless minutes we spend together as she's falling asleep.

I keep telling myself that I need to get her to nap on her own, so that all I have to do is put her in her crib and she'll put herself to sleep. After all, when I have another baby (yes, we're planning one) I won't be able to always rock her to sleep for naps and bedtime. And if I have to work nights, Miguel definitely won't be able to handle putting two kids to bed at once. But I cherish these little intimacies and I don't want to give them up. Soon enough, she'll decide she doesn't need it and I just don't want to let go yet.