Sound Sleeper

In case you forgot, Ella didn’t sleep through the night until she was 3 years old.  I didn’t tell anyone when she started sleeping through the night because I didn’t want to jinx it.  The funny thing was that once she started sleeping through the night, it was like something triggered in her and she can now sleep anywhere.

Let me first explain the difference between Joe and myself and our sleeping habits.

Joe: One of 8 kids.  Always shared a room.  Slept on a bunk bed for much of his life.  Can sleep anywhere on anything with any amount of noise in the background (all of the Murray’s have this gift, and yes, it’s a gift).  Can drink an entire pot of coffee at 9pm and still be sound asleep by 10.  Joe moves all over the place when he sleeps and the covers are a complete disaster by morning.

Me: One of 2 kids, and my only sibling is a brother so we never shared a room.  Not only did I have my own room, I always had a double bed entirely to myself.  I need complete and utter silence and complete darkness.  It always takes me at least 1 night (usually 2) to adjust to sleeping in a new place, which means I spend my first night barely sleeping.  At night I lay down in one spot to go to sleep, and I wake up in the same position.  In fact, when I sleep in a bed alone it hardly looks like someone has slept in it.

Just for a few more added details, let me say that I didn’t sleep through the night until Joe and I had been married for over 4 months.  I went from having my own double bed to sharing a bed and it was a tough adjustment.  I also slept with earplugs in until Ella was born because I couldn’t sleep with Joe’s breathing/snoring/whatever noise he happened to make in the middle of the night.  I make our bed every morning, not because I necessarily want to, but because the covers are so messed up that I end up re-making the bed before we go to sleep anyway, so I figure we might as well have a nice looking bed all day.

Now to Ella.  The child didn’t sleep until she was 3, so I was convinced she was going to have my sleeping issues.  Well, it seems as though once she learned how enjoyable sleep is, something triggered in her head and now she can sleep anywhere.  She has totally adopted Joe’s sleeping habits.  Hotels don’t throw her off.  New beds don’t bother her.  Noise doesn’t make her budge.  She just sleeps.  And she sleeps A LOT!  Usually she’s in bed by 8:30 and I always have to go in and wake her up in the morning so that she gets to school on time.  If I let her she’d probably sleep until at least 9:30 without a problem.

Now that she has decided sleep is a good thing, she falls asleep in the oddest places.  So here are some pictures of Ella in her funny sleeping places, and these are just the times I’ve had a camera handy.

There you have it.  This child can sleep anywhere.  I love her!