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The last few weeks have been rough for sleep around our house. Niko has not wanted to go to sleep, despite clearly being so tired - so we've been dealing with a crying baby on and off for several hours before a final bedtime of something like 11:30. And then a grown-up wake-up time of 6 or so in the morning - tired parents. Tired baby. Crabby baby (or at least less chipper than usual).

So yesterday we decided to try a much earlier bedtime, because maybe he's just getting so overtired that it's hard for him to fall asleep. We started the bath and bedtime ritual around 6:15 PM. Amazingly, he fell asleep around 6:50. He woke up a couple of times but we just changed his diaper quickly or nursed him calmly and then urged him to go back to sleep, and he did. He slept through from 9:30 PM to 6:15 AM.

YAY!

So: I am very grateful for sleep. I slept from 10 PM to 6 AM. It was grand.

Here's hoping I can pull off the same thing tonight!

Yesterday I was grateful for my wonderful friend fayde, who babysat Niko for us for a while so we could have a date. The date wasn't what some people would call exciting, but it was so good for us. We went upstairs, didn't worry about our baby, ordered a pizza and drank some wine and watched a movie. Ahh.

Today I am grateful for the beautiful weather, and for my health, which a checkup today confirmed.

The first noticeable side effect of this attempt to do a gratitude journal is that I am allowing myself to post brief things.

The second is that I spend at least part of my attention during the day on "what am I going to be grateful for today?" Which is probably the point of the exercise. Looking for what I'm going to write about causes me to focus a little more on the positive things in my life throughout the day.

I don't know what I will write about today, honestly - it's hard when the day starts a bit before 5 AM because the baby doesn't want to sleep any more. But at least I'll be thinking a little more positively for the rest of the day.

Yesterday I was grateful for beautiful, perfect weather that let us take a nice family picnic in the park.

Today... today I am grateful that I'm able to work from home on Mondays. That allowed me to sleep in an extra hour. Phew. Chipping away at the exhaustion.

Yesterday, I was grateful for feeling like I'm good at my job.

Today, I'm grateful for a little extra time with Joe in the morning; he has a planning day today so his schedule is a little more flexible.

gratitude:
That I was able to spend a few hours today with my wonderful family, walking down University Ave and enjoying the sights & sounds of a very different St. Paul at Open Streets.

as a bonus, I will also share yesterday's:
That I was able to cook, and enjoy good food, good friends, and good conversation.

(I will not attempt to backdate any further, that seems to miss the point of a "daily gratitude journal". We shall see if I manage to do this for a week or more. Here's hoping.)