Restless Sleepy Baby

I can already see that Riley takes after me in many ways, but one way we are a lot alike is that we are both very restless sleepers.

I had to move Riley out of her bassinet and into her crib in another room when she was just five weeks old because we kept waking each other up. First she'd move around, which would wake me up. I would get up and check on her, which would wake her up. Then she'd eat and want to hang out for a while. About an hour later, she'd fall asleep. I'd fall asleep thirty minutes after that, then I'd hear her start to move around and the whole cycle started all over again. This is one of many reasons that the first 8 weeks of her life are still hard for me to think about. Severe sleep deprivation is not a pretty thing.

Anyway, Riley still gets up a few times a night, but the cycle has broken to a certain extent. She is still a very restless sleeper and now she is able to move around her crib quite a bit. A couple of nights ago, I was up late working on a writing project and I kept hearing her move around in her sleep. It was very hot in our condo, so that may have been contributing to the restlessness. I decided to try to document her restlessness in photos, hopefully without waking her up.

The first time I went in she was in this position:


Five minutes later (Aunt Beck calls this her "chill pose"):


And five minutes after that:


After this picture, I got a little worried that she would wake up, so i quit taking photos, but she was on her belly the next time I came in and later that night, she had her legs up the wall, lying sideways in her crib.

Maybe all moms feel this way, but even just watching her move around her crib makes me stop and feel the wonder and amazement that she is mine. And how, after only nine months, has she grown so much. So weird. And so incredibly wonderful.