spoiled baby

these are some of the first pictures taken of gabe sleeping. i cannot tell you how amazing it felt to have this little baby snuggled up on my chest, sound asleep. he would nudge his little head up under my chin. he would get a sweaty head and i would get a sweaty neck from all of the cuddling we did.

i also admit to a lot of sleeping on the couch when he was still little. he would sleep, sometimes i would sleep too, he'd eat and we'd do it all over again. i tried to put him down in the bassinet. sometimes it worked. sometimes it didn't. i would wind up holding him so that we could each get some sleep.

this is where i went wrong. yes, they say that you cannot spoil a baby this young. he wasn't even six weeks old yet. i just wanted to cuddle and love this little man that i had been carrying around inside of me for so long.

the wonderful sixth week came. gabe slept through the night, in his crib! i slept on the couch preparing myself for him to wake up. HE DIDN'T!!! amazing! wonderful! oh bed how i missed you! this bliss went on for almost two months. however, i was still letting him sleep in my arms while he napped. not always, sometimes he was in his swing or in his car seat after a trip in the car.

then it happened. he got an ear infection but we thought he was teething or going through a growth spurt. so we got up and gave him a bottle. we rocked him. we might have even slept on the couch with him again. and still i was cuddling with gabe during naps.

fast forward to nine months old....most nights gabe sleeps through the night in his crib. however, if he cries too much or too many times, he winds up in our bed. then there is still the problem with napping. there is no longer a swing to hold him. he gave that up months ago. it's just mommy's arms. i tried so hard today to get him to nap in his pack and play. he only slept about twenty minutes. the second i picked him up and held him close....snoring.

as much as i love it i need some time to myself. how do i break my cuddler from cuddling but only during naptime?

gabe spending some time sleeping in our bed