Celebration

Today is a great day.  Since he was about 4 months old, Jake began a long and painful teething process.  As of a few days ago, he has 6 whole teeth, four on top, two on the bottom. During this time, he woke up 2 to 3 times a night, and on the days leading to each tooth, we pretty much had all night parties together and sleepovers on the floor.  Jake is so adorable and we love him very much, so this is in no way a complaint on my part--I know its all just a part of being parents.  But anyways--I caved to a lot of the co-sleeping these last few months.  However, a couple weeks ago I decided enough was enough, and we needed to get him sleeping a little longer at night, and the sleepovers needed to end.  Wesley and I prayerfully began a sleep-training routine involving a lot of rocking and reassuring on our part, and some tears on Jake's part.  The first few days it seemed like Jake would be both scarred for life and unable to get to sleep on his own.  But we saw small improvements with each night that went by.  I am happy to report that the last three nights Jake has gone to bed with little protest and slept a 7 hour stretch on his own!!!  For Jake--a child who has done this maybe 4 times in his entire life--this is an epic step.  Today I woke up with a great sense of well-being.  I'm not sure if this progress is because of our rigorous sleep-training, or maybe Jake is just finally feeling relief from his mean little teeth.  Probably a combination of the two.  But in any case, I see two options.  option A--hold off on my celebrations because who knows how long this will last.  option B--go ahead and feel joy in our success.  Maybe our luck will end and I will have to get up 5 times tonight.  But for now, I am rested and happy.  I might as well soak it in!... So I chose option B.  Today is truly a great day.