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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Future Orthodontic Care: $5,000; Sophia Sleeping Through the Night: Priceless

Last Sunday Sophia reached the crucial marker: six weeks. My mother and aunt both refer to the first six weeks as the Dark Ages. Nobody (including oneself) knows whats going on, there's lots of crying, and life is a bit of a mess.

Starting at six weeks, the child starts calming down, sleeping better, and smiling. My mother theorizes that children start smiling at six weeks because otherwise their mother is ready to throw them out. The smile is a life-preserving mechanism.

Sophia has also shown another life-preserving mechanism at the six week marker: thumb sucking. I know parents who pull the thumb out every time their child finds it, or put Tobasco sauce on the offending digit - whatever it takes to preserve future teeth and prevent addictive habits. But future orthodontic care notwithstanding, thumb sucking is a milestone I celebrate. My child can now soothe themself back to sleep. And they're so darn cute when they do it, too.

Which brings us to the best six-week present I could ever receive: uninterrupted sleep. Sunday night Sophia went to sleep at 9 and didn't wake up until 6. This morning it wasn't until 6:30. And that is something that is worth every penny spent on orthodontic care. As my mother says, long term psychiatric care is much more expensive.

4 comments:

dixonfamily said...

Hooray for sleep!!! Sophia is pretty darn cute sucking that thumb!! I am glad you have all survived the first six weeks!

Unknown said...

I can not even tell you how jealous I am right now. Ethan is six months old and I still have to get up with him once every couple of hours... Xander was like Sophia though. Maybe I only get lucky once.

I'm so glad you've made it through the dark ages! Happy 6 weeks, Sophia!

Sherwoods said...

Wow, congrats! I have never had a baby sleep through the night that early. Zach didn't until he was about 10 months old (I was already 4 months pregnant with Drew). And Drew was going 8:30 to 4 at three months and that was a celebration!

Well, I am glad you made it through the dark ages. Now start capturing those smiles for us!

Laura said...

The funny thing is that I STILL want one, even when the stories of sleep deprivation. Gotta love all those motherly hormones bathing my brain (no, not pregnant.)