Just a quiet place to sit and rest. I’m very tired...

We’ve had the same bedtime routine with Taylor for the past ten months – Bath, bottle, rock to sleep. And that’s rocking all the way to a sleep, which can take anywhere from ten to thirty minutes to get her completely conked-out. And then we would add an extra five minutes for good measure. Because once she’s out, she’s out for the night. And, yes, I know that by actually typing and posting this to the world, my daughter is going to wake-up, shrieking at 3.00 tomorrow morning. Yes, I know how the Universe works.

And, after rock-rock-rocking her to sleep, we would put her in her completely bare crib with just her binky and her blanket, and then turn on her Baby Einstein genius-breeding music to deepen her slumber. And that’s how we’d been doing it every night for the past ten months. And then finally one night a few weeks ago, after the bottle, Taylor kung-fu gripped her baby and pointed to her crib, and was all, Um, Mom. This is SO BORING. If you’re gonna be this lame. Just put me in my crib and let me entertain myself to sleep.

So I put her in her crib. Wide awake. And, without turning on her music, gave her a kiss and walked out. And then I stood on the other side of the door, holding my breath, waiting for her to cry. But she didn’t. And after seven minutes of semi-quiet, I ventured downstairs with the monitor, poured myself a glass of wine, put my feet up and watched the last ten minutes of the Daily 10. Score.

And finally, after a few minutes of relaxing and catching up on all of my celebrity gossip, I clicked the video monitor and watched her, sitting up, scoot to the bottom of her crib, scoot back, cover her doll up with her blankie and then turn on her mobile sound-board and then laid down. And went to sleep. All the way to sleep. Double score.

The next night it was the same deal – Bath, bottle, point to the crib, party with her doll, fast asleep. And then again the next night, and the night after that. And so on and so on. Not to mention it's the same routine at naptime. Triple-quadruple score.

And after a week of being such a good, grown-up sleeper, I threw a few more stuffed animals and a pillow in her crib. You know, so she doesn’t become a one-toy kid. After a few more nights into it, she convinced me to put in a few cloth books for good measure. Because it’s important for her to read. Or just use them as extra cushion.

It’s wonderful. She’s like a little person now. Done for the day, lay down on my pillow and read a book before bed. So grown up. And while on the outside I’m totally caught up on chores and tabloid trash, inside I’m a bit bummed that I’m missing my Taylor snuggle time before bed. And how I totally didn’t cherish that time when I had it, and how most nights I bribed her asleep so I could finish folding clothes or watch a movie or something so much lamer than cradling your baby girl and rocking her to sleep. I’ll never have that back with her, and that stings my heart a little bit.

However, as easy as the new routine is, the wake-up routine is still hampered by extremely full diapers, an empty belly, bed-head and a rather unpleasant disposition.

So it’s not all sunshine and roses. Hear that, Universe? No need to be checking in at the Amys house. We’re just dandy.