He always...He never...

I had a funny conversation with Karen today about how often we say "He/She always does this...." or "He/She never does this...." about our babies. Are we allowed to say 'always' or 'never' about someone whose whole life spans only mere months? The conversation started because of Bodhi's new sleep routine....

Up until last weekend, Bodhi ALWAYS had a 2 hour nap every afternoon at 2:30pm on the nose. He has not had a nap since Sunday - now suddenly he's become a boy who NEVER naps. Dan and I started to read up on sleep habits in babies and realized that Bodhi ALWAYS fell asleep nursing and if we weren't careful we were going to turn him into a baby - toddler - child who can NEVER fall asleep on their own. So last night Dan and I (very apprehensively) decided we were going to push Bodhi's limits and put him to bed awake and let him put himself to sleep. So we fed him, changed him, put on his jammies, then we all climbed into our bed, read two books and sang two bedtime songs. Finally we turned off all the lights and I nursed him until he was sleepy (but not asleep!) and put him in his bed. I have to say that it took everything I have in me to leave him alone - and awake - in his room. We came out to the living room and huddled around the monitor, listening to every fuss and peep. I'll admit, there were some tears - oh no, Bodhi was fine, they were my tears! Fifteen minutes later there was complete silence. We peeked in and he was fast asleep. Those were probably the longest 15 minutes of my life. So now, after putting himself to sleep once, Bodhi is a boy who ALWAYS puts himself to sleep! We'll see how tonight goes, who knows, in my next entry he may be a boy who NEVER does!