This Is Going to Be Fun

Well, tomorrow Amara Mae will be 5 months old. We celebrated by getting a Jumperoo. Actually, we stumbled upon a heap of a deal and got it super cheap. So my decision to buy it was part price but part need for celebration. It was perfect.

So, we are up to 5 months already. Month 4 was a blast and I am enjoying every minute, every second, every teeny tiny moment of it all. And, I find myself daydreaming about the future and I'm enjoying that already too. How is that even possible?

I have pretty much covered all the childhood ages. One, she'll be teetering all around. Two, she will be dashing hither and yon, confusing her doting parents and causing us to fret in the checkout line at Wal-Mart. Three, she will be sprouting a will and an attitude and putting words with these deliberations. Four, she will be trying out independence. Seven, we will be working on homework and social skills, trekking to girl scouts meetings....thirteen, we will be talking about boys (as Papa Bear is scheming a way to scare them off before they even start). Seventeen, she will be lovely and I will teach by example the importance of kindness, femininity, appearance, confidence, compassion, identity, and a host of other deep subjects to accommodate her growth and maturity.

I have thought of her adulthood too, but only as a generalization. We will be friends and go shopping together. I will support her through breakups and lost jobs, telling her that people don't deserve her. Maybe she will have a sister and "us girls" can go on weekend trips or even a cruise. We'll plan her wedding, I'll be there the day she births my grandchild. I will help her in any way I can, I will always be on her side but let her know when she is being foolish (except for sibling spats, to which I have decided I will remain neutral). It'll never be just her against the world, because she will have her mom. I hope I'm on this earth for a very long time, so I can be her mother not only after I raise her but for a lifetime. I didn't get that chance with my mom so I desperately want to give that to my Amara Mae.

Yes, I think about the years to come and I just know. This is going to be fun.

Bedtime Lullabies

So, I was putting Amara to sleep tonight and I decided to do a little serenade. Any song you want can be a lullaby - you just have to slow it down, preferably to match the pace that you are rocking.

The program included Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Hava Nagila, If I Had a Hammer, Frank Sinatra's I Never Knew (but only the chorus). Amara had fallen asleep and I was just singing for the soul, a last few rounds of Twinkle Twinkle. My eyes were closed and I was just enjoying myself and I looked down to see two little peepers sleepily gazing at me. Amara had woken up, albeit not completely, to catch the last few moments. She had the most blissful, in love, effortless smile I have seen in my life. Her mouth was open a little bit, almost like she was trying to sing along and I just got so tickled at the idea of her trying to sing along that I stifled chuckles the entire rest of the song, and even one additional round to redeem myself.

When I laid the sleeping angel in bed I thought to myself that she might have the most peaceful night of sleep that she has had thus far in all of her 4 months.