Annie rarely needs middle of the night attention anymore. God blessed us with a truly wonderful sleeper and when she does happen to wake in the wee hours she is usually really good at putting herself back to sleep. Not last night, though. And last night she did something really unusual – but wonderful. Instead of wanting to be fed when she woke at 4:00 a.m., she simply wanted to be held. And I was the lucky one who got to hold her.
When the middle of the night jabber I awoke to turned into fussing, which then turned into intermittent little crying, I figured she had fully awoken herself and realized she was hungry. So into her room I went with a bottle in hand. As I lifted her from her crib, she gently touched my face with both of her little hands. I sat down in the glider and cuddled her in my arms, bringing the bottle within her eyesight so she could grab it and guide it and my hand to her mouth as is her usual protocol. She did that for a minute, drank for just a brief time, and then took the bottle from her own mouth and just relaxed against me.
She wrapped her fingers around my thumb with one hand and played with the zipper of her sleep sack with the other. Then she caught sight of my face out of the corner of her eye and reached up to touch my cheek and then play with my hair. She rubbed her eyes and relaxed even further into me and then her little eyelids closed and her breathing got deeper. As I stood up with her and placed her in her crib I thought this was the perfect (although early) start to Valentine’s Day. Because there was a lot of love in that nursery.
The whole experience only lasted 6 or 7 minutes. And I know it would lose a little (or maybe eventually, a lot) of its charm if it happened often. But it truly got my day off to a wonderful start. Happy Valentine’s Day to me, indeed.
David and I aren’t over the top Valentine’s Day celebrators. We fall more into the camp of “show your love everyday” then the grand gesture once a year deal. We kind of pride ourselves on our Valentine’s Day tradition of going to Target together, setting a very reasonable price limit, and then separating for 30 minutes or so to find the perfect gift for the other. It’s one of my favorite times all year. Because I feel like we are kind of turning the convention on its head, but still celebrating the point behind it. And also because it is our thing, our way of celebrating, our time together…as valentines.
 |
| An oldie but goodie of me and my valentine. |
 |
| My loves. |
So however it is you choose to celebrate – whether it’s a trip to Target and an early morning baby rocking session like me, or something a little more conventional – enjoy this day for what it is. A time to think about what and who you love. I know I am making a mental list all day of what I love about this blessed life. Feel free to do the same!
No comments:
Post a Comment