Rock-a-bye Baby...

Ever since we moved Sophia up to her own room to sleep in her crib, we have rocked her to sleep every night. This routine would consist of us giving her a bottle, and then rocking her for about half an hour, sometimes even longer until she was sound asleep before we would lay her in her crib. Though, Jeff and I love rocking her to sleep, putting her to bed at night was becoming quite the timely task and I would even sometimes fall asleep in the rocking chair with her. A few days ago, I was asking myself at what age is she going to start soothing herself to sleep, so that we can give her hugs and kisses and simply put her in her crib to go to sleep? So, four nights ago, I thought I'd attempt rocking her for about 5 minutes, giver her a hug and kiss and put her in her crib completely awake. She cried for 2 minutes and then was completely out. Then, the second night I did the same routine and again she cried for about a minute, and then it was the same on the third night. Well, tonight (the fourth night), I went through the same routine with a short 5 minute rocking and a hug and a kiss and when I put her in her crib she rolled over and snuggled her blanket and didn't make a peep! This new routine will make it easier when we go on trips or travel to see relatives, because not everyone has a rocking chair and rocking her in my arms until she's completely asleep at this age is just not an option. She is way too heavy for me to hold in my arms for a half hour, so this new bedtime routine is quite a relief for me. I am really hoping this is our new bed time routine and it is here to stay.