I've Become a Morning Person

Sunday, February 28th, 2010 - Day 72

My entire life, I have never been much of a morning person. I loved to sleep in when I was younger and getting up for school was very hard for me. When I went away to college, I scheduled all of my classes for after 10am in the morning so I would get to sleep in as long as I could. Even then, there were days that I was late because I just didn't want to get up. I'm the typical snoozer. I set my alarm for an hour before, hit snooze every 15 minutes and when I finally get up, I pray the shower wakes me more. My college boyfriend and I used to go visit his parents and his mom seriously thought I had a sleeping disorder because I slept in until noon on Saturday and Sunday, lol When I moved in with Chris, I asked him if he liked to sleep in on the weekends and his answer was 'I don't want to waste the day and would rather get things done'...well, I was instantly scared that he'd ridicule me for wanting to sleep in all the time. To my pleasant surprise, that wasn't the case at all with Chris. He has yet to get up on his on free will and get things done on the weekends, he sleeps in as long, if not longer than I do. For me, I love that he is like me in that aspect. I have a really hard time sleeping and am very sensitive to noise. Chris, on the other hand, can sleep through everything. After I moved in, there were several occasions, I'd wake up and he'd be sprawled out across the bed, right in the center and I'd be buried underneath him. He didn't even know I was there. He, of course, has learned what 'his side' of the bed means and having a King bed has made it really clear! lol Since Chris can sleep through a freight train passing through, his alarm clock was the loudest, most annoying thing I had ever heard in my entire life. He had three set and they'd go off as loud as could be and he'd sleep right through. What was worse, was that the alarm was on the nightstand on MY side of the bed. I 'tried' to get used to it, since that is the way he woke himself up and I didn't want to mess with his routine. But, after a week of that, when his alarm would go off, my arm would instantly fly over and hit the snooze...almost before it even goes off. My reflexes became so quick that it was really pointless for him to even have an alarm because the only person it woke up was me. So our routine started to take shape where I would be his alarm clock. It was so funny too because I really realized how 'not a morning person' Chris was. The alarm would go off and I'd say 'honey, time to get up', he grumble '5 more minutes' and I'd say 'okay'...that went on for about 45 minutes. Then I'd say 'honey, really it is time for you to get up' and he'd say 'okay', but would just lay there as if he was paralyzed. One day, I think I forgot my patience and I turned perpendicular to Chris, put my feet on his side and started to push him, while warning him 'better get up or else'. On some occasions, he would go flying off the bed onto the floor. What is funny, is that he'd actually get back into bed and take his chances of it happening again. Then there were times where he'd get up and go turn on the shower. I'd roll over as if I was going back to bed and he'd run and jump into bed while I wasn't looking. We almost created an entire game out of our morning wake-ups. Sort of like cat and mouse and when it got really bad, I'd literally drag him to the shower. Talk about not being a morning person! But I'm okay with that because I completely understand. I then realized that it was better for me to get up and take a shower first and then crawl back in bed and snuggle with Chris a bit - we'd chat and it would slowly wake him up. I'd go get ready and give him warnings until he got up. We love our morning routine because it works for us. He would always say I was such a morning person and I would give him a look of disbelief. But he was right...I was bubbly, perky, awake, and playful in the morning. What!?! That's not me. But I think it is because I had to be a morning person to ensure he would get up. Since I replaced his alarm clocks, it was my duty to get his butt out of bed.

Now Tia needs me to be that morning person too. She has her first feeding at 5:15am every morning and so I typically get up at 5am, make her bottle, ease back into bed and patiently listen to her coos and cas until I know she's ready to get up OR if 5:15am arrives first. We have a great time in the morning. As I'm feeding her, I get my kisses in! I'll kiss her cheek, neck, hands and just love on her while she is busy gulping down her food. Then I'll give her some floor time and we'll play a bit. We have these long conversations and they are the cutest. I'll say something and she'll mumble something back. It almost sounds like she is trying to speak under water, but it really does seem like she is talking. It is fun. I'll rock her back to sleep and I'll watch her smile and giggle as she goes back to dreamland. Then right at 6:14am, I'll put her down and walk back to the bedroom just in time for the 6:15am alarm to go off for Chris and then that routine will begin. So I guess I've become a morning person not by choice, but by chance. The true test will be once I go back to work and trying to fit it all in the same way so I can feed Tia,get Chris up, get ready myself and get us out the door. I'm praying it is an easy transition since I've been up at 4am and 5am every morning for over 10 weeks. I will be sure to let you guys know! On the weekends, I do hope to get some chances to sleep in here and there...we'll see!