Tough Love

Here is a photo I took this evening of Uwe playing with Astrid. It's so sweet to see them interacting with each other.

Tonight it made me think of my relationship with my own father. I remember waiting on the couch for my dad to get home and the moment he came through the front door I ran to him with my arms up wanting to be lifted up and hugged by him. I was the apple of his eye and I knew he loved me but he also believed in tough love and was very strict.

Astrid is too young to have any discipline issues but right now it's all about setting a routine and sticking to it. One routine we're trying to establish with Astrid is her sleeping in her crib. She's been sleeping in her bassinet and Uwe and I trade off each night on who is going to be caring for her during the night (and will sleep in the family room) while the other can get a good night's sleep. Astrid is beginning to outgrow her bassinet. I have been trying to get Astrid to take naps in her crib during the afternoon but have not had much success. Uwe decided that on Friday Astrid was going to sleep through the night in her crib and we would have one night where we could both sleep in the bedroom.

Friday night came and Uwe was firm on Astrid sleeping in her crib. Uwe and I laid in bed watching "Iron Chef". I fell asleep while watching the show and little did I know that Uwe couldn't sleep all night. He kept thinking, "What if Astrid cries and we can't hear her?" even though our bedroom is right next to her room. So sweet Uwe got up at 1 AM and put Astrid in her bassinet and slept next to her in the family room so that he could hear her if she woke up and/or started crying. So much for tough love huh? But I wouldn't have it any other way.