One Whole Week Revisited

Strangely enough, the last time I titled a post "One Whole Week" it also pertained to sleep, but this time is bittersweet rather than an event to be celebrated because last night was the seventh night in a row that Nate and Seth have slept apart.

Oh, I knew it was coming. There were certainly signs and I'm glad they did it on their own terms, but still, I wasn't ready.

This post is my stroll down memory lane because I don't ever want to forget how sweet it was while it lasted. Sorry there are no photos of babies today, and instead just some quickie illustrations I did – but as much as I love taking pics of my boys there's no way I would ever turn on lights in the nursery while everyone is asleep to do it. The crib and "exhibits" are more or less to scale – and yes, Exhibits "A" and "B" are also Baby "A" and "B" and these are the overhead views of how they've slept since we brought them home.

Fig. 01: Home From The Hospital

Look how tiny they were when we first put them in a crib together! They could sleep side by side with room to spare and for the first time I kind of wondered why we'd bought two beds. We ended up using one for daytime diaper changes and playtime and the other was for sleeping. 

Fig. 02: And Then They Grew

This was the new arrangement after the first 8 weeks or so. The babies slept like this without incident for at least another 2 months following, until... 

Fig. 03: And Then They Grew Some More

... we had to start angling them to fit the crib. They were very still sleepers though and the way they went to bed was always the way I found them in the morning. At this point both Nate and Seth still slept on their backs, until... 

Fig. 04: Oh Dear.

... everyone became a confirmed tummy sleeper overnight and that's all they do now. That's when poses like the ones in Fig. 04 started happening, sometimes within 15–20 minutes after placing them in the crib while they were already sound asleep. Repositioning them was no problem and often they would remain back in the angled pose until morning. Well, that is, until... 

Fig. 05: This Isn't Going To End Well

... stuff like this started happening. I caught this pose during a random check and my first thought was, "well, this isn't going to end well" – and yes, there really was that much overlap between feet and head.

You'd think after that last pose I would have separated them the same night, but no, I did not. I kept thinking, "soon", but I dreaded the thought of it and honestly I'm sure I'd have had them bedsharing until they were ready to graduate so let's all be thankful they finally staged an intervention.

Last Thursday night, Seth went to bed as usual but Nate was not having it. This was unusual since they typically fall asleep within minutes of each other – and never more than 15 minutes apart – but there I was still trying to get the Sandman to pay Nate a visit a full 45 minutes later. He was SO tired, beyond tired, and when he finally got dozy I took him into the nursery and laid him next to Seth, but he was still not having it. I put him in the other crib so he wouldn't disturb his brother while I tried to quietly soothe him and, of course, he promptly fell asleep – and I had a feeling as I left the room that this was it, but I also knew better than to wake a sleeping baby so I didn't move him.

And you know what? Neither of them skipped a beat. They were ready. It was just their sentimental mommy who wasn't. It's been going swimmingly ever since.

- L.