Good Nights | 2007

In the first year, getting a baby to sleep was almost as easy as sticking a baby bottle up to the baby. As the months pile in, the baby gets smarter and realizes that life is not all about the bottle. It then gets a bit more complicated getting the little bloke to sleep. Still, it's not so bad, a pat on the bum, a song or a hum, a pacifier and you should still be quite good. It's when the baby starts getting nightmares that makes it really difficult.

First, it's because you don't really know if the baby is having nightmares or not. We had to assume this by calculating Jakjak's actual age and his mental age (somehow, they made things more complicated for preemies) and base it on the books that we have read (which is limited knowledge, honestly). Second, the baby cannot really tell you if he is having a nightmare or not. In fact, he cannot even tell you what he actually wants when he wakes up in the middle of the night. And third, waking up in the middle of the night does not really put your head in perspective.

It was good then that my sister came and gave Jakjak a precious gift. Timothy. Timothy is a Precious Moments doll in pyjamas that prays the goodnight prayer. Jakjak cuddles him every night, and we tell him that praying will keep the nightmares away. So before he goes to bed, we press Timothy's hands and pray with him together. Of course, it took a bit more of tie before Jakjak actually said his evening prayer, but we believe that it made him understand the power of it.