Thursday, October 30, 2008

A Voice in the Night

For those of you who are unfamiliar with our sleep situation, I can sum it up in three words: It's not good. Although she is almost two years old, Evie has never had a stretch where she has slept through the night. Oh, occasionally she will shock us and sleep until dawn, but I can count those wondrous nights on two hands.

Lately, she's been sleeping in her own bed until one or two in the morning, and then calling to me to come and get her. This is a big improvement, so I'm happy to oblige. I go in and she slides out of bed, dragging her blanket behind her. We get her sippy cup of water from the fridge and snuggle till dawn. Pretty good, huh?

Saturday night I was sleeping blissfully in my bed, when I heard a little voice ask "Water?" I looked over and noticed Evie standing on the floor next to the bed. My foggy brain raced to figure out what was going on. Why was she standing NEXT to the bed? Did she fall out? I looked at the clock - 2:30 AM. And then I understood - Evie had woken up and walked into our bedroom ON HER OWN!

Praise the Lord! This is certainly a development I want to encourage. So at every opportunity, I talk to Evie about it. "When you wake up and it's dark outside and the house is quiet, you don't have to call for Mommy to help you out of your bed. Just get down and come into my room, okay? You're such a big girl!"

It's working. Every single night since then, she's come into our room on her own. I hear a little voice ask for water or say "Mommy?" and I praise her and lift her into bed with Chris and me. I've even wised up, and keep her water on my nightstand instead of the refrigerator.

I am almost afraid I will jinx myself by writing this, but this works. I am finally, finally, finally getting good rest at night. And I want to ruin it with another baby!

9 comments:

Alexandra said...

yeah Evie!! I am glad you are not having to get up. You need your beauty rest until the next one...lol

Mrs. Stam said...

Glad that you don't have to get up anymore hopefully soon she'll sleep all night!!!

Fiona said...

OK, you're totally a masochist.

But, that said, Yeah!! It sounds too cute for words.

And (sappy coming right up...) does it make your heart turn over to hear her say "Mommy?" in the dark? The other night Callie was in my arms and I said, "Nice hat, kid!" and she looked right at me and said, "Hat!" which is the first word I've ever heard her say.

It made me so excited for Iain to talk. Not that I want to rush ahead, but it looks like Big Fun.

Congrats to Evie, and to you.

[What are you going to do if you get up at 3am one night and find her snarfing down leftover chili from the fridge? Just wondering...]

Heather said...

Awww..such a neat milestone. There is another one coming in a few years, but I won't scare you with it now. ;)

Rae said...

Wow, Fiona, if Evie were eating chili out of the fridge, I'm pretty sure Sarah would weep with joy. Evie eating AND not waking her up! That really would be a miracle.

Sarah, I'm really hoping that your next baby gets the sleeping genes from our side rather than Chris'. If it does, I'm sure you'll have a good sleeper.

calista said...

Hey, I was lurking around and saw your post on another blog....they do still make Tang, it's great stuff. We buy it at 'The Wal-Mart'....

Anonymous said...

It does help when they can come into your room and you just slide over and let them climb into bed :)

Nell

Askew To You said...

Being Mommy is such a sleepy job. I've been a mom for 18 years now and I've rarely slept well. I think it's partly because I'm the only adult in the house and I have to stay alert.

For example, it's after 1am and I'm up waiting for my 16-year-old to return from a semi-formal dance. I am exhausted.

I sure hope your arrangement with your gal works and you are able to get some good rest. :D

Jackie said...

I know, girl...I would love to ruin my perfectly good nights' sleep with a baby, too. :)

Yay, Evie...isn't it SO nice when they figure things like this out and make our lives a little easier?