Sweet Rest

When Justin was about two years old he started waking up from his nap before he was truly finished sleeping.  I would sit with him in our recliner and rock.  For a while I got frustrated that I was having to sit and hold him, and why couldn't he just sleep by himself, and I had lots of other things I needed to be doing.  But then I realized that this was the perfect chance for ME to get some much needed rest too.  And I learned that if I pretended to be asleep, Justin would lay his head on my shoulder.  He would pop up a few times and look at me and if I was still "asleep", he would sleep too!  That way he would finish up his nap while I sometimes even got a little nap myself.

And oh, what wonderful sleep!  Justin is such a cuddly, snugly sleeper!  I love sleeping with him.  His sweet little gurgling sounds and thumb-sucking smacks melt my heart.  When I do red-eye trips I look forward to getting to nap with him from start to finish.  He thinks it's a special treat for him, but really it's the other way around.  He cuddles right up to me and gets his head stuck right in the crook of my neck and I think there is no way I could possibly get comfortable enough to fall asleep, and then I get lulled into blissful peace by the rise and fall of whatever body part is within my line of sight and his body heat relaxes me.  I can fall asleep in no time flat!

And the best part?  It still works!  He sometimes wakes up before he's done sleeping and if by some miracle Alaina is asleep too, I can get him back to sleep with some rocking and pretend sleep.  Only now, it's not pretending at all!  I settle down for my own two winks and hope that he gets back to sleep before Alaina stirs.  I love it when the stars align and I get some sweet rest in the middle of the day.  A few Justin cuddles give me the burst of energy to make it through the rest of the day.  Yesterday, I even made it through an half-hour walk pushing two kids in the double stroller while Travis rode his bike.  Sweet rest rocks!