In honor of National Poetry Month (squeezing this post in on the last day of April!) I thought I would share this poem that I found on the
Mothering website (http://mothering.com/
). I'm not usually a very poetic person, I leave that stuff to my sister (check out her blog at: http://www.bottomland.typepad.com/
), but I loved this poem and felt like I should share it.
Having Camden in our bed with us is not something that Scott and I had planned on doing before he was born. We bought a Co-Sleeper, which is a sidecar that attaches to our bed, for Camden to sleep in, but from very early on he had difficulty sleeping on his own. We welcomed his little body into our bed and immediately fell in love with the idea of sharing this space with him. He snuggled close to us, felt warmth and comfort and slept soundly in our little "nook." Waking up to your child's beautiful face each morning and sharing that snuggle time might be the most incredible thing in the world. When he turned seven months we felt like things were getting a little tight in our queen sized bed.
Camden wasn't sleeping as soundly and neither were Scott and I. We worked hard, and continue to work, on getting him comfortable in his own crib in his own room! He sleeps pretty well in between feedings, but still nurses throughout the night. He still comes into bed with us on particularly rough nights and we are amazed at how our presence calms him right down. I'm not gonna lie, nighttime parenting is challenging and exhausting and he is not a very good sleeper, which makes all of us pretty sleep deprived, but I keep reminding myself that being a mommy doesn't end at 7:00pm when he goes to bed. Although the transition to his crib wasn't an easy one, I wouldn't trade our co-sleeping months for anything.
Happy National Poetry Month! (Here are the words, but I can't find the title and author! oops!)
Having you sleep with me
is a little like having you back in my womb.
You turn and the skin of my blanket rises and billows.
You stretch and your heel kicks my hip bone,
your miniature elbow pries into my ribs.
I couldn't sleep then either, too hard to move a muscle or change
position.
But back then I couldn't turn and look at you in the dark,
discerning the miniscule mountain range of your profile against
pale dawn creeping in at the window.
I couldn't inhale the holy incense of a very small human—
mostly clean with dried yogurt and Vicks around the edges.
I couldn't feel your tiny arms reaching desperately for me in the
shadows,
stretching around my neck and relaxing in relief.
I feel sorry for the me before I knew you.
I feel sad for myself years from now when you are grown.
But in this now, with a sigh echoing your own,
I lie awake and content in this humble embrace
encompassing the whole world.
He has been walking around holding onto our hands (first both hands, and then more recently just holding on to one finger of one hand) for months now, but just recently has started to venture out on his own! He doesn't really know how to stop himself, so we have to follow closely behind to catch him before he does a face plant. Although he's had a few tumbles, nothing seems to slow him down or scare him too much! I think we have a little risk taker on our hands. For some reason, Camden never had any interest in crawling, no matter how often we do tummy time. Sometimes it's frustrating because he can't really get anywhere on his own. We're continuing to try and teach him how to crawl, but so far he doesn't want anything to do with it! Scott and I are going to Camden's 9 month appointment next week and are really looking forward to talking to our pediatrician and hearing how Camden is doing! 
Having Camden in our bed with us is not something that Scott and I had planned on doing before he was born. We bought a Co-Sleeper, which is a sidecar that attaches to our bed, for Camden to sleep in, but from very early on he had difficulty sleeping on his own. We welcomed his little body into our bed and immediately fell in love with the idea of sharing this space with him. He snuggled close to us, felt warmth and comfort and slept soundly in our little "nook." Waking up to your child's beautiful face each morning and sharing that snuggle time might be the most incredible thing in the world. When he turned seven months we felt like things were getting a little tight in our queen sized bed. 
Camden wasn't sleeping as soundly and neither were Scott and I. We worked hard, and continue to work, on getting him comfortable in his own crib in his own room! He sleeps pretty well in between feedings, but still nurses throughout the night. He still comes into bed with us on particularly rough nights and we are amazed at how our presence calms him right down. I'm not gonna lie, nighttime parenting is challenging and exhausting and he is not a very good sleeper, which makes all of us pretty sleep deprived, but I keep reminding myself that being a mommy doesn't end at 7:00pm when he goes to bed. Although the transition to his crib wasn't an easy one, I wouldn't trade our co-sleeping months for anything. 
Camden has officially moved out of his infant carseat and into the seat that he'll be in for the next few years! He now sits up much straighter and can see out the window better. 
I will definitely miss using the travel system and clicking his carseat in and out of the car and his stroller, but I think we'll get used to the new seat in time. Camden is always SO GOOD in the car (which is such a blessing), and we're hoping that he'll continue to enjoy the ride despite a slight change in environment. 
