Bedtime

I used to rock Flora to sleep when she was younger, but at about 12 months she decided she was too big for cuddles and would point at her bed if I tried to rock her. The benefit to me was a bedtime routine that usually lasted less than 2 minutes.

Last week, Flora decided that maybe she would like to try rocking again. I got her ready for bed and turned off the light and she pointed at the rocking chair. I rocked her and enjoyed it, but didn't expect it to last more than that one night. Apparently she enjoyed it too because she has pointed to the rocker every night since then.

Bedtime takes an extra 5 minutes now that we've added rocking and snuggling to the routine, but I don't mind. After all, what's 5 minutes in the grand scheme of things? Well, according to my trusty calculator, 5 minutes a day for a year is 1,825 extra minutes of cuddles with my baby girl in the course of a year. That is over 30 hours---more than a whole day's worth of snuggles!

I realized tonight that those little moments of rocking and cuddling are the moments that I am going to miss the most when she is grown and also the moments that I can only preserve in my own memory. It's impossible to record the feeling of her soft hair on video or capture the sight of her sweet little sleeping face in the evening light with a camera.

So now I know why Mother eagerly volunteers to put Flora to bed when we visit.....and I may have to start fighting her over who gets bedtime duty! :o)