Dosing off.

Getting your beauty rest.

Catching a power nap.

Stealing forty winks.

Having some shut-eye.

Sleep.

Oh, sleep. How do I express how much I love you?

They all warned me “Sleep while you can!” and “Enjoy your last nights of sleep!” as they laughed, delighting in their schadenfraude. I rolled my eyes, knowing that of course I would get less sleep after the baby arrived and that it was impossible to stock up on this priceless commodity so there was no point in trying. If only there were a way to save you up, dear sleep, like vacation days. Then you could be stored for a beautiful hibernation, or at least an occasional nap. The problem of course being that you need to be able to take a vacation from work to use those days off. When would I get to spend that saved-up sleep? I can’t think of an answer.

But I remember you, noble siesta. The warmth is what I miss most. Getting under the covers is the most delicious moment. Clean sheets, a warm comforter, a soft pillow. You can sleep places other than your bed, but there’s nothing better. Nestle in. Wrap yourself up. Oh it sounds so good! Then your body heat starts to get trapped under the sheet and you get that toasty feeling you can’t get anywhere else. It’s like getting onto a massage table – the only thing you have to do there is relax. None of your muscles working, just laying flat. Curled up, sprawled out, anything you want. It’s all up to you because you are the one sleeping. You don’t need a partner or a teacher or a boss – Sleep is just by you, just for you.

“Sleeping through the night” apparently means five hours (HA!). I have been extremely lucky to have a baby that has been sleeping through night after she was just a few weeks old. Last night I got a record seven hours straight for the first time in over two months! A true night of uninterrupted sleep, not two four-hour intervals with a two-hour feeding in the middle… there’s nothing like true uninterrupted sleep. Early this morning I woke up on my own. Not to a cry or an alarm, but when I felt rested and woke myself up.

That’s all I want for Christmas.