A Word from Mommy...

Moments. Sometimes that's all we get. And sometimes they're all we need.

Tonight, like the past few nights, the little man has had a bit of trouble staying asleep for longer than a half hour or so. In fact, it's been like that during the days, too. A "sleep strike" I think Sarah called it (that's Abel's mommy). And tonight followed suit. So after the first awakening, I went in and "rocked" him back to sleep...actually, it's simply lightly pushing the bassinet insert in our playard back and forth which simulates a rocking motion while allowing him to remain laying down. I am trying to resist always picking him up right away. Luckily, he fell back asleep.

Then, as I expected, the next awakening came within 10 minutes. Although he loves sucking on his thumb, fingers, or whole fist, he still has a hard time keeping control of his arm when he is crying. So I tried helping him. But it was to no avail. So I grabbed his paci and he took it right away.

Then we had a moment...one of those moments mommies live for and cherish always. As my totally exhausted son laid swaddled in his bed, he sweetly sucked on his pacifier and held my hand. Truly...he held my hand, not the other way around. Instead of rocking him, I thought I would just lightly rub his face and hand (we keep one arm out of the swaddle) to help him fall back asleep. But instead, he needed to feel my touch and began to "play" with my fingers, sometimes grasping one, then just lightly touching other parts of my hand.

It was amazing and wonderful and sweet. It was our moment. And it was all he needed.