Flashback Friday

I remember when Mikaela was approximately 9 months old. She was a stubborn sleeper. She didn't need a lot of sleep and didn't nap for too long. I had the hardest time getting her to learn to fall asleep on her own. I never let her sleep with me and always made her cry herself to sleep. It was difficult and challenging. One night in particular, she wouldn't go to sleep. I would put her in her crib and she would cry and cry. I went back in a few times to try and calm her down. Nothing was working. I decided she needed to just cry it out. So, I let her. I let her...for 45 minutes! She cried in her crib and I cried on the couch listening to her. It was awful! I felt awful! Then, after the 45 minutes of constant crying...I heard it...SILENCE! I waited a little bit and then quietly went into her room to peek at her and make sure she was actually asleep. She WAS asleep, but she had cried herself to sleep sitting up! Yep, sitting in a corner of the crib. I could see her tiny little fuzzy head and I wanted to take a picture so badly...but I didn't because I also didn't want to wake her up! The risk definitely outweighed the benefits at this point. It was both cute and sad at the same time. I had to leave her in that position for a little while longer to make sure she was sound asleep and then I moved her to a more comfortable position. Poor little stubborn thing!