what's in a snooze?

personalities do not shut down with the eyelids.

cruising through the babies rooms these past few weeks, i have noticed their sleeping positions reflect their very unique selves.

jasper sleeps face down, arms akimbo. the minute we lay him down, usually during prayers, he flips over and commences sliding his gro-bag clad self down the cot. not an easy task, but he is up to it. leaving a snail trail of drool that a) marks the path of his voyage like a treasure hunt for infants and b) indicates the effort needed to create this pathway. the j always has his mouth slightly open. if a stray cheerio might pop up from the folds in his neck and migrate into his mouth during the night, jasper wants to be prepared.

he has a really weird sleeping position, whispers magnificent charles.

that is funny, coming from a man who sleeps lying on his back, with his knees up in the air and his feet planted firmly into the mattress. head tilted back in a position that cannot be comfortable.

carys sleeps tightly clenching her lamaze cot decorator. while she is still awake she tends to roll from side to side, cooing in her gravelly voice and occasionally popping in and removing her right thumb. as she gets tireder, her thumb drops out of her mouth and hovers two inches away from her mouth, in case the thumbs services are required again. as she settles into sleep, she grabs on to the decorator and relinquishes control of consciousness. i have tried loosening her grip on the decorator, but it is tight, and why bother? who's she hurting? besides, lying on her left side means she is sort of partially strengthening the tight side of her neck.

sela moves very little from the position you lie her in. on her back, right arm outstretched, left arm arced and thumb in mouth. by the middle of the night both arms are flung out. two theories abound on why she chooses this position: its flattering, and b) she's lazy, and wants to get to sleep. our sela likes her sleep.

sebastian has been a wriggler since the day he was born. when he was released from the hospital, magnificent charles and i agreed that he could bunk with us for a few nights. it would be easier for feeding in the middle of the night, etc.

magnificent charles was concerned that he might roll over and squash sebastian, so we put the bald wonder into a xerox a4 photocopying paper box that we had lying around. and so, we tenderly introduced sebastian to his first bed. he slept, but charles and i did not. sebastian scratched, bashed and bonked the corners of the box all night long. every noise, by b00bs would leap to attention, and magnificent would bolt upright  "wha???". and our cats, who were allowed to sleep on the bed with us would shuffle about, turn two and one half times around, then settle themselves again.

the second night sebastian was home, we read and worried about the transition from sleeping in a comforting small space to cruelly shoving sebastian into a cot. one thing was certain, he would not be sharing our room again. because of the very real danger that babies who don't have happy transitions from small baskets to cots don't get into good colleges, we compromised, and that night sebastian slept in the xerox box, which was in his cot. that worked fine for a few weeks.

sebastian has no regard for proper sleeping placement and i find him with legs and arms dangling off the bed, his head where his knees should be, or his head pressing against the bed rail. he is all over the place all over the time. why? i am not sure. he is not overly eccentric, paranoid, or prone to bad dreams. maybe the the first level of his circadium rhythm is an aerobics programme.

my sleeping position? i always sleep on my right side, with my hands between my face and pillow (preferably a cold pillow) and knees bent (when my dear departed cat was alive her sleeping spot was behind my knees) and bare feet sticking out of the duvet.

everyone's heard of dream analysis, but sleep analysis seems just as interesting.

Comments

[Boulder]

As I was reading, I could envision each of your descriptions, but was secretly hoping for a photo - and there they were!

As an insomniac of the worst sort, I have spent many nights observing the various sleep positions of my DH, my cats and my dogs. It really is very interesting that even the animals in my life seem to have no issues with sleep and each have their own preferred styles too.

My DH is the funniest, though. He even when in a catnap on the couch tucks 4 fingers into the waistband of whatever he's wearing right on the hip-bone. Only his right hand though. It is the oddest thing. But I find it so endearing, and it is what I miss the most when he is away. Gazing over in my wide-eyed misery and seeing the contentment of the man I love with 4 fingers secured in his waistband.

My two dogs sleep curled up like kittens, with noses tucked in to their front paws, and my cats sleep like 3 figurines on a shelf, all lined up one next to the other on the same chair, with the sweetest sighing noise made - an angelic version of a snore, I guess.

It doesn't matter who (or what) it is that you watch sleep, when you love them it is a pleasure to see the idiosyncrasies and to know that they are comfortable even if you wouldn't be in the same position. That is the time of each day that I relish the most, knowing that everyone I love is safe and sound, sleeping in comfort all around me in my home.

[AyEnDeeAreEeAyAitch]

I love your babes, so sweet.

[Carrie Jo]

I agree sleep position analysis IS interesting. When I go to bed I have to roll over switching sides at least 3 times before I can settle onto my right side to drift off to sleep. I am always snuggled under the blankets and I have a long-ish pillow on the side edge of the bed so I can snuggle against it. My husband sometimes falls asleep on his back and snores when he does that but usually sleeps on his left side. If he's on his back and starts snoring in the middle of the night I will make him roll over. Our dog either sleeps between his legs or between the two of us snuggled against one or both of our legs. I imagine I will love watching my kids sleep too. Especially when they're dreaming. My dog is funny as it is. Sometimes when she's dreaming she'll make a whoop whoop whoop sound that to me sounds exactly like Curly of the Three Stooges.

[Amber]

The first picture of Seb...priceless. Bless his little heart. Love it!