Camp Lily

We used to tease Dusty's mom that her life was like living at a summer camp, we called it Camp Susie. I love attending Camp Susie, it means shopping and going to the pool every day. Recently we've been calling Lily's bedtime ritual Camp Lily because she's living the dream. Lily has a long bedtime ritual. It begins with her bath which takes about 20 minutes. She still adores the bath. After that I give her a baby massage. Our parenting book recommended it as something to do to help you connect with your baby. I started doing it after I felt that Lily and I lost our connection and it seems to be helping. She sits and relaxes while I rub her feet and legs but by the time I get to her arms and back she is wiggly and chatting up a storm. I love it! After that we "wear her down." Literally. She gets strapped into the front-pack and we clean the house that way. She relaxes while we do it and starts to fall asleep. Finally when she's tired, we wrap her up and rock/sing her to sleep. By this point she's so relaxed that it doesn't take more than five minutes for her to be asleep and in her crib. The whole ritual takes about an hour total but I love it. People always advised me to teach my kids to fall asleep on their own at an early age (around 6 weeks) but I can't imagine not putting Lily to bed every night. Camp Lily is the best part of my day!