To sleep... by himself

It is a momentous day.

Yes, you say, that is a sleeping baby.  Ah, but this is a sleeping baby who just *put himself to sleep*.  AHHHHH!!!!

Now if you ask Travis, he will tell you that this has been going on at naptime for quite some time, so what's the big deal?  I didn't realize how consistently Andrew was going down for naps.  Travis puts him down in the crib, then straightens the room while Andrew plays with his blankets, and slowly, baby drifts off.  I have been in charge of the nighttime bed routine for a while now, and though we've been working on "getting to sleep by means other than simply nursing to sleep," I would never have dreamed I could put him down awake and he would just go to sleep!

So, tonight Andrew signaled "tired" around 7.  We diapered and PJ'd.  Daddy read Goodnight, Moon.  We nursed downstairs on the couch.  He was super drowsy/drifting off when he finished, but he woke up again as soon as I put him down in the crib.  Like wide awake, not this "drowsy but awake" stuff.  I tucked him in and gave him his Air Force taggy blanket.  He fussed, so I gave him his pacifier, and then said goodnight.  He stirred, kicked, and talked a little while I filled the humidifier tank.  I needed to call in reinforcements from Daddy, since I was unsure of what else I should do.  We talked quietly in the loft outside Andrew's room and tidied up a bit there, and within 5 minutes.... our boy was OUT.

I have heard the theory that if the conditions are the same when babies wake up at night as when they were put to bed, they will be able to fall back asleep on their own.  So I will be anxious to see how our wakeups go tonight.

Seriously, I thought it would be a year until we were at this point.  Great job, Daddy!  Great job, Andrew!