Wake up smiling
I’m not a huge fan of waking up in the morning, and even less so after a nap. The rise to consciousness feels like a violent interruption of something important. Deep, dreamless sleep comes less often the older I get, and I’m no longer certain I know how to collapse into sleep with the abandon of a baby.
I don’t think Lila has ever risen to the surface after sleep with a smile on her face. If I’m present she just looks pained and then cries for me to hold her. It can often take an hour of cuddling for her to come back to her happy and engaging self. I don’t always mind this, but there are times when I feel as though I am stuck in a sharp-toothed trap—no key in sight.
If she’s alone in the room when she wakes up, she screams as if on fire.
This is a big part of why she still sleeps nestled between me and Chris in our bed. The shock of that kind of terrified night-waking isn’t worth it for any of us. When she sleeps alone she wakes up at night. In bed with us, she sleeps right through most of the time. Still a fussy little thing for a bit in the morning, but who can blame her? Life is hard work.
"Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon?"
~Hal Borland
February 4th, 2006 at 7:26 pm
. . . what gorgeous pics . . . and yeah, waking up is a beeatch . . .
February 5th, 2006 at 9:11 am
What cutie pie pictures!!!!!
No one likes waking up.
On another note,when you sent the link to this new blog,I read it as “Herbal Hands” and I wondered what the heck that meant. It took me a while to figure it out…..lol.
I’m just getting old,that’s all!
February 5th, 2006 at 11:58 am
Oh, GOSH. What great photos. The whole series. She’s getting big!!
Got the cmaera working again?
xoxox
February 6th, 2006 at 11:51 am
My Nolan is much the same way. He YELLS when he wakes up, or whines VERY loudly. And when he was Lila’s age, he’d scream and cry for like 40 minutes when he’d wake from naptime when he had a cold. Now, at 3.5, he’s finally improving, but still does yell in the night when awakened. It’s fun sitting bolt upright in the middle of the night!
February 6th, 2006 at 11:59 am
That’s pretty much how I look when I get up, too.
February 6th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
She is exactly like my son. He needs an hour of cuddling to adjust.
I love the pictures of Lila, she’s beautiful.
February 7th, 2006 at 8:37 am
Whoever makes these angels before sending them down to us just installs one of 2 wake-up chips: “happy” or…ummm…”not.” I’ve got one of each. So, it’s clearly 100% nature. In fact, I have read articles, talked to professionals and tried EVERYTHIING to get the irritatingly cheerful one to be less so, and it’s no use. Gotta just love her the freaky way she is, I guess.
February 7th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
Great photos, and as her gramma, I can certainly attest to the fact that she is really that beautiful! Miss all of you like crazy!!!
February 21st, 2006 at 5:53 pm
just imagine if she needed a cup of coffee in da morning…..drop and roll drop and roll….sis you have the most beautiful children..