babe in arms

Here is Lucy, on a recent trip to Edinburgh (it was cold!), having a little sleep in the stroller (translate this to whatever word works for your region). Why is it photo-worthy? Because Lucy has taken to sleeping in the stroller only when it's moving. That is, she sleeps in the stroller when she can't sleep on me. 

Don't get me wrong: one of the loveliest things about having a baby is the soft, warm, cuddly feeling of your infant falling asleep in your arms. The memory of that feeling is what got me through my pregnancy this time around. Overwhelmed as I was at the prospect of child number 4, I could say to myself, but at least when the pregnancy is over, for a couple of wonderful years, you'll have a baby. You know, one of those little creatures who smiles and coos and makes you feel like the most important person in the world. They don't talk back, and, for the first few months at least, can't get away. I imagined having back all the things I missed most about Iain's babyhood. (He was, though I say so myself, the most wonderful baby.)

Lucy, lovely, lovely Lucy, is most of those things. And more: she sucks her thumb. I know this will be a problem later, but at 6 months, thumb-sucking is pretty darn cute. There is, however, one trait that she seems to lack: transferability. I mean, when you try to put her down in her bed after she's fallen asleep on you, she instantly opens her eyes and begins screaming as if you'd put her down on a bed of nails, not a mattress. She had about a week of sleeping through the night (or 6-hour stretches, which is nearly as good), in her own bed; she even fell asleep there. All that changed with her experience of jet lag, and since mid-August we've been suffering with her.

Eventually, I know I will have to remind her that she can go to sleep on her own, and she can sleep for long stretches of time in her own bed. I don't look forward to that. So today, when she woke up (in the bouncy seat, even) after just a few minutes' sleep, I took her and let her sleep on me while I finished reading an essay (on the theological virtue of hope in the ethics of Thomas Aquinas, if you're interested) and drinking a cup of tea (lapsang--my favorite). 

Then it was time to take Thomas to buy a newspaper. (Lewis has taken to reading the Financial Times at the weekend, which doesn't have a sports section. Anathema, according to Thomas, who thinks that the main reason for a newspaper is sports reporting and a list of which football matches will be televised, and when.) I opted for the walk, primarily because Lucy could stay asleep on me. 

She did. She slept through the trip, and stayed asleep while I read a whole section of the Financial Times (the arts bit) standing up in the kitchen. (The baby bjorn isn't really meant to be worn while sitting down.) I know that in the long run, this isn't helping. 

But it sure did make for a pleasant afternoon.