We Win, We Win

Listen just a moment, my child/ Can you hear it?/Listen a moment, it's there/It is there in the stillness of a dark night/It is the sweet sound of silence/A silence so ethereal, so rare.

Last night, we won. Last night, our son slept through the night; he did wake briefly, but eased back into a sweet, deep slumber for the rest of the night.

*Sigh*. It was pure bliss.

Since we made the move from Townhouse to CountryHouse, Benjamin's sleep patterns have been less than stellar. I've heard that big changes like a move can cause havoc to normal sleep cycles for children. And boy, did it it ever. I can recall one time that he slept through the entire night in his crib. One night. Since Halloween. And, honestly, I thought he had stopped breathing, so I had to go check.

Over the past several months, we've tried to establish a consistent bedtime routine, which typically includes the following: take a warm bath, change diaper/PJs, storybook time, rocking chair, turn on low-light lamp, cuddle with favorite monkey blanket, say family prayer, sing songs & lullabies, and finish with goodnight kisses & hugs. Doesn't simply reading this long list of lovely things just send you to a calm, sleepy place? It does for me - but not our son.

Since the transition to our new home, he's fought his evil nemesis, SLEEP, with a fiery vengeance. We've tried different methods from crying it out (awful and heartbreaking); put in crib, leave, cries, check-in, repeat until exhaustion sets in (awful, heartbreaking and LONG); run around until exhaustion sets in (NEVER works for our Energizer Bunny); or bounce to sleep on our huge exercise ball (last resort - almost always works, but takes lots of time & patience).

And getting him to sleep for the first time has just been part of the battle. After the first "nigh-night", he wakes 1 hour after bedtime, 2 hours and then like clock-work, a final wake-up at either 1 or 3:30am. By that point, I'm so bleary-eyed and exhausted, I lie him on my shoulder while groping my way along the darkened hallway back to our room. And so, for the last five months, we've had a mini bunkmate who shares our bed and steals our sleep. It's no wonder why we've both been so tired!

On Saturday night, I was at the last resort - the big, blue exercise ball - but it wasn't working. I was TIRED, lulling myself to sleep with the rhythmic bouncing while our little kiddo continued to wiggle, giggle and bounce with glee. Finally, I had to put him in his crib, the thought of which sends his little legs running for the hills. One tired mommy and one angry kid was sure to be a recipe for a long night, but to my astonishment, SLEEP overtook him quickly. It was nothing short of a miracle. The mid-night wakings still occurred, but it was a small step in the right direction.

Yesterday was busy and stake choir practice ran late, so I didn't get home until well after 9pm. I was worried about our kiddo getting to bed so late. But thanks to a persistent husband, the sound of pitter-pattering feet was replaced by the slow, quiet breathing of a sleepy child. And, besides a 1am cry in the dark, the house lay silent, still and peaceful until a raucous beep, beep, beeping welcomed us to Monday morning.

To get over 6 hours of uninterrupted, bed-to-ourselves, sleep: it felt good. It felt like cool air rushing into your lungs, winning a gold medal, the first lick of an ice-cream cone, the rush of waves lapping at your feet. It felt like *that* kind of good.