When I was pregnant with Hayley, I desperately wanted a rocking chair. My mother and sister got one for me and I happily envisioned rocking my soon-to-arrive newborn to sleep in it. Little did I know I would give birth to a baby who preferred the motion of being held against a shoulder and walked around over being rocked gently in a chair. Not once did she ever really fall asleep in the chair; once in a blue moon she would doze but as soon as I got up she would wake up again.

Fast forward to 2005. She now loves to sit in the rocking chair, which is still in her room, and either rock for fun or she’ll sit in it and “read” her books to her dolls and stuffed toys.

Today was one of those infamous three-year-old days where she wasn’t keen on listening so when she announced she was going to play in her room I figured a break from each other was a great idea. I heard her talking in there and occasionally the rocking chair would knock against the wall so I knew she was reading again. All of a sudden it got totally silent and silence with a pre-schooler is when you worry about what they’re getting into. I went to inspect and found this:

(click to enlarge)

I honestly thought she was faking it the way she does at the end of a car ride, but no. She was sound asleep. I would have left her there but it was 5:30 and I wanted her to sleep tonight so unfortunately I had to wake her up. But only after taking her picture a few times.

It is exceptionally rare for her to just randomly fall asleep of her own free will like that so I was stunned. I’m glad I have photographic proof that it actually happened!