I was leaving Isabelle's room the other night, and as I turned to close the door I had to laugh as I watched her perform a little maneuver. First of all, she sleeps with two pillows: one full size and one small, toddler size (what we call her baby pillow). Anyways, she grabs the aforementioned baby pillow and wraps it around her head like a hot dog bun and then turning, collapses down belly first onto her bed and mashes her face into the larger pillow. Basically, all you see is a mound of blankets and pillows and nothing else.
Now this is funny enough by itself, but you need the back story, for this is a long-held Peterson trait and apparently Isabelle is already following it. You see, her father sleeps the same way as does her Uncle Todd. I have long struggled to understand how they manage to breathe, but Clay assures me they put their mouths at the edge of the pillow and do turn their heads to the side as to receive air flow. Having slept next to him for a number of years now, I have grown accustomed to the wall of pillow and blanket that represents the person next to me and based upon the occasional snore rest assured that he is, in fact in there. It is an untaught behavior and one that I thought was unique to the male species of the the Peterson clan as Clay's sister does not engage in "sandwiching her head " while sleeping. (I shall have to investigate further and learn about my nieces and nephews).
Yet, now it appears Miss Isabelle has begun unconsciously adopting the sleeping habit of her Daddy. Clearly, it is only in the beginning stages, as she only does it for a few moments, and I will find her sleeping the rest of the night in many other ways. It is not the only position she falls asleep in, where as for Clay it is the "go to" position for nighttime. (Don't laugh, we all have one.) Oddly enough, way before I was ever pregnant, and I was just dreaming of having a child I pictured one sleeping in a little bed and falling asleep the same way Clay did. I liked the idea of it because I love those amazing little quirks and habits and mannerisms that all unconsciously occur and link families together. They are like invisible vines that twine through all our arms and advertise "See! We are from the same tree!" Now, I am just left to wonder what other quirks she might pick up from Clay.
