Another big sleep day

I was going to not post about this because all of the other things I thought were going to be sleep disrupters and posted about turned out to be nothing. But still, it seems worth noting that today, Sofie is sleeping in her own room for the first time. After installing new windows and lightproof blinds, we just an hour ago moved her crib down from our bedroom upstairs to her playroom/bedroom on the first floor, and she is at this very moment in there trying to take a nap. And not liking it so much.

So we're back to doing the "every ten minutes, go in and comfort her until she settles down" thing. And we're anticipating that for a few nights we're going to have to leap up if she wakes in the middle of the night and is scared; probably she'll need a few days of reassurance before she can return to her usual habit of just turning over and pressing her gloworm for music, and drifting right back off to sleep.

It's good that we're starting this on a weekend.

I've got really mixed feelings about this whole process, even though it needed to happen. It'd be one thing if her bedroom was on the same floor as us -- I don't think I'd feel weird about that. But down a floor seems like a long ways, even though it's still just steps from our bed, right at the bottom of the staircase. And it's been nice having her upstairs with us all the time! We've spent many a happy moment watching her play in her crib before she knew we were awake, from our vantage point across the room. I find it immensely comforting to be able to hear her breathing if I wake up, and sometimes to tiptoe over and take a peek at her. It's comforting knowing she's literally RIGHT there, an arm's reach away.

On the other hand, she's almost 18 months old, and she's old enough to sleep in her own room. We have monitors next to the bed and will still hear every sound she makes, and I can still roll over and hear her breathing. And wow -- it's already nice to be able to go upstairs during naptime without worrying about waking her up. It'll be great to be able to turn on a light upstairs after seven p.m. for the first time in over a year. It'll be a relief to be able to have a conversation without whispering when we go to bed, and to be able to sneeze and flush the toilets without constantly fearing waking the baby.

I can see all of this. I agree. She may even sleep a whole lot better. A lot of people have said this is often the case when they're no longer in their parents' room.

But I think I'm going to miss her tonight.