Pigs Are Flying in the Cole Home

Most mommies will agree that there is nothing sweeter than snuggling and sleeping with their babes.

2 days old

5 days old

I mean seriously, who would not want to wake up to this??

Some of my most precious memories have been just laying in bed staring at my little miracle. His squishy lips have always been my favorite. I have always had to stay with Asher throughout his naps to keep him asleep, and while I was desperate to be able to get up and get things done at the time, I am SO glad that I stayed and snuggled and stared and soaked up every minute with him. I will always cherish those days.

Fast forward- Asher is 14 months and you will still find a lot of this going on around here:

Nighttime nursing had reached an all time high- 7 or 8 times on average- and no one is getting any sleep. I absolutely love having my sweet boy next to me, but am also seeing how it is starting to wear on our family as a whole (It would also be nice to cut back on the nursing so mommy's fertility will return....). I knew that Asher is not a baby anymore, and that it was time for a little independence. We weren't going to force anything, but I had a mommy-instinct feeling that he was ready.

So one night Scott took him into his room to sleep in his "big boy bed" while he slept on the trundle next to him to help him back to sleep whenever he woke. I expected that night to be a disaster, but it really went pretty smoothly. He woke up around 11 and cried (with Scott holding and comforting him) for 9 minutes and then woke again around 4 and I nursed him. We knew that he was able to understand what "night night" meant and that he could trust us for what was best. We had a brief hiccup while he was teething (worst night ever), but the 4 days since have been PERFECT! He goes down at 8:30, sleeps until 4:30 (!), Scott will bring him in to me to nurse and then take him back and he sleeps until 7:30. PRAISE THE LORD! There was no terrible week of crying and breaking his will. I am so glad that we waited until he was ready and it was such a smooth transition. He will even roll over when he is finished nursing, say "big boy bed" and try to climb up into bed. By the way, we got these Magic Bumpers and they are awesome.

I seriously do not know what to do with all this sleep though. I dream A LOT now and wake up SO zonked because my body is in the restoration phase from the last 14 months of nightly beatings. I sincerely believe that Asher would not be as loving, compassionate, SWEET, and engaging had we forced him into something before he was ready, so every sleepless night was WORTH IT!

I guess my baby is growing up!! Sniff Sniff

(He is walking too:)