learning to let go

This is going to be a hard week for me. Will is almost 9 months and I am still waking him up at 10pm for a late night feeding. It has been my favorite time with my little guy and I am having a hard time letting it go.

I have almost always done this feeding with Will. When he was younger I would stay up until midnight to give him a bottle and then Dave would do the 6am shift before work. Then as he got older and slept more we did away with the early morning feedings and I moved the late night bottle to whenever I wanted to go to bed {which was usually around 10pm}. I loved getting to sneak into Will's room after he had fallen asleep and watch my baby sleep. He would cuddle with me until he woke up enough to eat and then after he was done with his bottle he would fall back asleep in my arms as I rocked him. Last night I did this feeding with Will for the last time. As I got into bed I cried myself to sleep knowing that my little guy is growing up. I am glad that he is doing so well and is old enough to just have a bottle before bed but I will miss our late night "dates".

We would snuggle and bond in those late hours and feeling his little body breathe against me were the sweetest moments between us. I know it is time though. Will is getting older and needs uninterrupted sleep now and I need to learn to let go...