We Used To Turn On Lights In This House

She likes to sleep
with her hands
out, just in case

The first 3 (maybe 11, it's hard to remember) days after Clara came home from the hospital, we whispered. All the time. We were so scared of waking the baby, because we didn't know what to do with her. So all activity was centered around being quiet, holding still, and SERIOUSLY, DON'T WAKE THE BABY OR YOU'RE IN BIG TROUBLE! (fiercely whispered, of course.)

One night, I was getting ready to run to pick up some fast food at a drive through, and right before leaving, I had this flash vision of me whispering in to the menu speaker and being so frustrated that the employee could not hear me. I felt like I would get there and forget to talk out loud. And the idea made me laugh hysterically for about 6 minutes before Todd finally convinced me I would be fine, and sent me on my way.

Sleeping during
tummy time!

I hear phantom crying babies all day. At least 98 times a day, we freeze and stare at each other with super wide open eyes as if we are hiding in a closet in Nazi Germany-"did you hear that?" We don't watch much TLC (except What Not to Wear, poor Todd.) If the TV accidentally gets left on that channel, we're in big trouble because it has nothing else but crying baby shows. That will get new parents running to the nursery faster than you can say "it's just another show about someone with many, many more kids than we are prepared to handle!"

See why we like
her to sleep?

Much like the Count of Monte Cristo, Todd and I can now see in the dark. We can go in to her nursery, check the bag that holds formula, fill it up, find her binkie, put away clean laundry, turn on Lambie, avoid tripping over the sharp edges at the bottom of her feeding pump pole, even change a diaper-all with no lights! We can even see each other well enough in the dark to signal to each other (silently, duh!) when we need things like wipes or another blanket. These are the skills you acquire when you are afraid of your baby.

The thing is, thanks to Fat Tony (her feeding pump and the pole it hangs from), she is a really good sleeper. If we stick to our routing and bathe her, snuggle, and put her down by 8:00PM, she sleeps until about 8:00AM. Or at least, she did, until the dreaded season of seasons Summer arrived. The sun comes up earlier and earlier. She gets up with the sun, and as previously stated, we LOVE it when she sleeps, almost as much as when she eats. So it is with no pride and a plea for understanding that I admit...We have now covered her window with a blanket. This does not go with the aesthetic we were originally going for in the nursery, but I'll bet you $82 that she sleeps until 8:00AM tomorrow...