Life
I'll never forget the first time I left my daughter in her bassinet for a nap, spending an hour putting the house back together and scrolling through Instagram through my phone, only to realize she'd been laying in there awake the whole time. You could wonder for a few months, like we did, what she might be doing in there on her own, or you could invest in a video monitor to know about the things your baby is doing when they're in their bassinet.
One of the first things we essentially borrowed when we found out our daughter had already arrived and was waiting for us in the hospital, was a bassinet. Pale yellow and frilly, I have to admit I haven't yet had the heart to return it to the friend of a friend who lent it to us (and my daughter grew out of it more than a year ago.) I have so many fond memories of peering into the bassinet when she was just a few days old, wondering what she was doing, weighing up whether to let her sleep peacefully or pick her up, and dreaming about when she'd open her eyes and hang out with me.
It wasn't long before she started realizing she could make her opinions known and heard, but those first few weeks I definitely sat on the couch wondering what she was doing in the bassinet, especially when she was laying there so peacefully. I should have appreciated it more at the time, especially now that she has moved to the crib and can stand up and bang the crib rails as soon as she wakes.
Wiggling Out Of The Swaddle
My daughter was a Houdini when it came to the swaddle, and she'd spend the first five minutes wiggling her way out of the swaddle as soon as you put her in there. It was as though she knew she was safe in her little bassinet anyway, so she wanted to test her freedom with loose limbs.
Swatting Flies
As soon as she wiggled her way out of the swaddle, she'd start swatting anything and everything: the air, the sides of the bassinet, her own face, you name it. She was a ninja, you guys.
Sleeping...
Sometimes she was actually sound asleep in there, snoring quietly. I loved looking at her sleeping so peacefully in her bassinet. It made her look so tiny.
...Unless They're Wide Awake
If they're not sleeping, swatting or wiggling, they're definitely wide awake. Especially in those early days, my daughter would hang out in there staring at the little bassinet cover for ages before I realized she was awake. Gosh, it seems like a very long time ago that she didn't make it known that she was awake the second her eyes popped open with "Mama! Mama!"
Plotting Their Escape
Sometimes I wondered if she was plotting her escape from the bassinet, and it's hard to not worry when they start to get older that they aren't going to be able to claw their way out. Repeat after me: she's not going anywhere, she's not going anywhere.
Contemplating Their Next Meal
My daughter was definitely contemplating her next meal, lying in the bassinet and sucking her little lips over and over again. We know babies don't dream about anything that moves until they're much older, so it was probably a very stationary bottle that she was imagining and drooling over.
Practicing Their Roll
The first time my daughter rolled in the bassinet, I panicked because she was still in her swaddle. Weirdly, though, she decided that just that once was enough to roll in her swaddle, and we were able to leave her swaddled and sleeping soundly for a few months after that. It was like she learned that rolling in her swaddle just left her face-planted and she didn't want to repeat that experience.
Judging
I mean, maybe she wasn't judging, but I'm pretty sure she could hear I was watching old Veep reruns and wondering what the heck she had gotten herself into, getting mixed up with the likes of me.
