It's 5:30 am on a Sunday, and Grace is wide awake, smiling up at me, ready to start our day.. I may be tired, but all I can think to myself is: "How did I get so lucky to be her mom?"
Grace is 5 months and one week old, and every day we are seeing her sweet (sometimes spicy) personality shine through more and more.
This week, as she took her nightly bath in the little infant tub that she has pretty much outgrown, Brian and I just marveled at how fun she is. She has so much fun in that bathtub now. She kicks, splashes, and smiles a huge smile the whole time. She doesn't mind when the water has turned lukewarm and she has splashed most of the water out of the tub. She is just a happy baby, and we are so lucky.
Bedtime has finally become something I no longer dread. I used to dread bedtime because I knew I could either nurse her to sleep, or deal with many tears if I put her down awake.
This is no longer the case. We now do our bath and cuddle, I put her down wide awake, she sucks her thumb, and is usually asleep within 10 minutes. It is amazing.
On Friday after work, a coworker was having all the teachers over to her house for happy hour. Normally, I wouldn't even consider it. But, I decided to risk it, and bring Grace, knowing that she'd be exhausted after daycare and cranky since it was close to her bedtime.
She was perfect! She let anyone hold her, she smiled lots of sweet smiles, and didn't fuss the whole time. She fell asleep minutes after getting in the car to go home, but she had been an angel baby the whole visit despite being so tired out.
Being a working mom hasn't been easy so far, but there's one thing I know for sure: I absolutely cherish our evenings and weekends together. Because we spend our weekdays apart, it makes my time with her so precious.
Every single day she looks bigger to me. She has outgrown most of her size 3-6 month clothes, we're solidly in her 6-month and 6-9 month clothes now.
Last night, as I bathed her at 7pm on a Saturday evening, I heard giggling outside. I looked up and saw a group of teenage girls walking past our house on their way to the high school for some event. It made me think that one day she will be the teenage girl heading out with her friends on a Saturday night. And I'll only have the memories of this chubby little baby in our kitchen sink bathtub on a Saturday night, smiling up at me, loving life and loving me.
These years when I am her whole world and her perfect Saturday (or any) night is spent with me are so fleeting. I'm going to soak in every cuddle and every moment with her. This Mother's Day, there's one thing I know for certain: I wouldn't trade this life as her mom for anything in the world.
