"Hi Momma"

All the baby/toddler books I've read have said that when your child wakes in the middle of the night, that you aren't to make eye-contact and to do the diaper changing (if necessary), rocking, etc. quickly and not to make it like play-time or talk too much to them because they are to know that night time is for sleeping. This has worked really well for me until Cade started talking. The books don't say how to handle a toddler who says "hi momma" in a very sweet voice when you walk in the room. That just melts your heart and you can't help but talk back! :)

Cade did this to me last night. It was 3:30am and I was up to go the bathroom. I heard him in their rolling around. I figured he needed his diaper changed and I thought I'd let him have the rest of the milk he didn't drink at bedtime. I walked in his room and heard "hi momma" from the crib. I tried to talk to him in a whisper and tell him that he needed to go back to sleep. We rocked while he drank the rest of the milk. He asked about DADA. I told him DADA was sleeping. He thought that was funny. We rocked for a few more minutes and I laid him down.

I didn't hear him again but I imagine he rolled around in his bed for a while longer before going back to sleep. We are so lucky that he likes his bed and goes to sleep well on his own. I think the fact that he's a thumb-sucker has helped in that area. He can soothe himself. The thumb-sucking may become an issue as he gets older... I just hope the new baby is as good a sleeper as Cade has been! I don't know if we can be that lucky!

Something else funny he's started doing is when you are holding him and talking to someone else. If he wants your attention, he will grab your face and drag it to look at him or at whatever it is he wants to talk to you about. We're not sure where he learned how to do this.