STTN

Every parent... okay well every interwebby parent knows that acronym all too well. It hasn't been something I have worried with too terribly much. With my first we co-slept. It was the only way I would have ever gotten any sleep what with my insatiable need to make sure she was still breathing every thirty seconds or so. This went on in some form until... let's see. Five days ago?

And I honestly haven't minded. Sure there were times I worried that our nighttime parenting, or whatever the term is in AP, too lazy to google, was going to make it where she had a really tough time ever sleeping on her own. When she calls to us, we go get her. When it is time to go to bed one, or both, of us lie there with her until she drops off to sleep. In the last month we have switched her from her crib, which never saw much use at all, to a new twin bed. She freaking loves that bed. She loves to play on it, she loves to read stories there and most importantly she loves to sleep there. I'm not sure if it is related but several nights ago during what will come to be known as the "great holy hells we all have some sort of H1N1Y2KEbola virus" I was in the midst of tucking her in when the entire contents of my head started to make a beeline for the nearest exit. I gave her a big hug and told her I'd be right back and headed downstairs to try to make the insanity stop. I expected her to freak out as she has in the past when we left her at bedtime. I didn't hear anything from upstairs. After about twenty minutes we snuck up there to see what trouble she was getting into. The girl was asleep! No freaking way! That was maybe the second time she had ever fallen asleep on her own.

The night progressed. No sign of Weebles. No calling over the monitor for daddy to come get her and bring her down to our room. Wha? Whose child is this anyway? What a fluke... except the same thing happened the next night. And the next. We are now on night #5 of tucking her in, leaving the room and *hopefully* a full night's sleep in her own bed. I must admit I miss her a little bit. But I am really happy that she can put herself to sleep and feels confident and safe enough to make it through the night without us. And with nary a cry it out episode necessary. Sure it took two years and two months for her to sleep through the night on her own but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I know that CIO was just not right for our family. Don't get me wrong though. I'm not counting my chickens here. I know all too well that any minute now it could all go to hell in a handbasket and we could be up all night watching Oobi with Walden, Widget, Wow Wow, Bear, Penguin, Pooh Bear, Dancing somethingorother Elmo and a sprinkler (yeah that's right, a damn Elmo sprinkler has been in my bed at times.. not as risque as it sounds.)

And in case you are thinking "hey good for them! finally getting some sleep..." don't forget about Peanut. He's already been up THREE times in the last two and a half hours. I'm not worried though, he'll STTN when he's good and ready.