Rock Me, Mama

Genevieve is pretty easy to get to sleep these days, very much unlike when she was an infant.  For naps, all she needs is her white noise on, her blanket on her, and sometimes one or more "guys" (beanie babies, hand puppets, dolls...).  I kiss her, hug her, and tell her I'll see her when she wakes up.  Sometimes she plays around with her guys for a little bit and then eventually goes to sleep all on her own.  At bedtime, she usually needs a little help unwinding.  She turns on her white noise and gets in bed.  I put her blanket on her and rub her back while singing or playing a song from YouTube with my phone.  Common requests are Strength for the Journey, Speak Life, Twinkle, Twinkle, and Holy, Holy.  She gets to hear a song twice, and then I blow her kisses, tell her I love her, and say to sleep tight.  She sometimes says, "I love you too" or "I'll see you in the morning when the sun pops out".

Genevieve usually sleeps through the night very well, but she will wake up requesting food on occasion.  This is not a ploy to get up; she really is hungry and will NOT go back to sleep unless she is fed.  Sometimes she just needs half a banana to hold her over until morning, and she usually goes right back to sleep without any back rubbing or singing.

Last night, after going through our normal bedtime routine, I could hear Genevieve in her bed playing around and kicking her feet against her crib.  After awhile, I heard "Mom!  Mama!"  I went in and asked what she needed and why she wasn't sleeping.  She said, "Rock me, Mama."  I don't get many opportunities to rock her, so after telling her that my lap didn't have much room but we could try, I held her in the glider rocker.  She put one arm around me behind my back, rested her head on my 38 1/2 week pregnant belly, and put her other hand on my belly by her face.  Then she looked up at me with a sweet grin on her face as we rocked and said, "I'm sleeping on Cecilia."  She again rested her head on my belly and sweetly drifted off to sleep.  It was such a special moment to me as I realized I was holding my two precious girls in my lap.  I really wish I had a picture to capture this moment, but honestly, the picture will be burned in my mind forever.