Written by When it comes to naptime, it’s always hit or miss with my daughter. Some days she goes down easy and sleeps well for a few hours at a stretch. Other days, she fights sleep, doing anything and everything she can think of to keep herself awake, and to keep me from putting her down in her crib. Yesterday was one of the other days.
Naptime started the way it always does. I made a bottle of warm milk, turned on the white noise, and we sat down in the rocking chair with Cadence’s favorite blanket. She drank the milk leisurely, her eyes growing heavier with every swallow. When she’d had enough, she pushed the bottle away and snuggled against me, lying still for a few moments and breathing deeply.
Today is going to be a piece of cake, I thought to myself prematurely, but no sooner had the thought crossed my mind when Cadence’s eyes opened ever so slightly and she began to giggle.
The giggle lasted a few moments, and then random words began to spill out of her mouth.
“Bah. Bah-bah.” = Ball. Baseball.
“Nigh nigh.” = Night night.
“Momma.” = Momma.
“Nah-dah.” = Daddy.
“Dun-duh.” = Thunder (the neighbor’s dog).
“Eh-eh.” = Electra.
“May-bay.” = Baby.
On and on and on it went, interrupted only by giggles and squirming. Finally, I stood up, placed her gently in her crib, said night-night, and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind me.
She continued to chatter for a few moments after I left, cried for a minute, and then all was silent. I wondered if she could have possibly fallen asleep that easily. She was exhausted, so it wasn’t completely out of the question. Relishing the sudden freedom, I opened up my laptop to get a little work done before she was up again.
It wasn’t ten minutes later when a sudden loud yell, “AAAAHHHH!” erupted from the baby monitor. Just one yell, and then silence. I jumped up and opened the door, not really knowing what I expected to find. This was the sight that greeted me. It took me a minute or so to notice that something was amiss, and when I did, I quick ran to grab my camera.
Lori Romano 