"Is he sleeping through the night?", "Does my butt look big in this?", and "It's not you, it's me"

These are all questions you need to answer with a lie. People really want your child to be sleeping through the night, for you, because they know how difficult it is to be sleepy and ... oh, who am I kidding. People really want your child to NOT sleep through the night, so you can live the same difficult experience they had with their children.

This all being said. I am not one for lies, and I often give up information, even when not solicited. Nolen is not sleeping through the night yet. But hey, come on...he is only 6 weeks old. Also, Carter did not even sleep through the night until he was over 3 months (and let's remember, we can't compare Carter and Nolen - they have a whole lifetime for that one, why start early?) Some nights are better than others - but it seems the older Nolen is getting, the better he is getting at putting himself to sleep - he is just more aware and wanting to sleep less. For this I am glad that I have a maternity leave that extends beyond 6 week, but I live in fear of the fact that I will be working again in the new year. It would be nice to answer the sleeping question confidently, and honestly at that time - on a full nights rest. For the time being I am up several times at night, and Matt has been taking over when Nolen decides that at 5am it is time to be up for the day.

Personally, sleep is something we spend a lot of time talking about in reference to young infants, yet it is the least interesting thing about them. For example, Nolen has started cooing and smiling big time. Last night at dinner Matt was giving Carter some options around eating (translation: Carter thought he was done dinner after a few bites and was starting to melt down). Nolen just looked up at Matt, gave a big coo, and a grin that filled his entire face.

The next time you run into a new parent, stop yourself from asking the age old "sleeping" question. It is pretty boring, and unfortunatly, can tak a lot of time to answer.