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Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Yesterday

On Tuesday and Thursday, my very first thought is "Oh please let her sleep in an extra fifteen minutes!" And usually that means she wakes up at least 30 minutes earlier than "normal". But yesterday, at 7:15 I slid silently out of bed, took my shower, got dressed, actually combed through my hair, and it was still blissfully quiet for a few minutes. I went in and got my PetePete up at 7:45 - she was happy.

She ate her entire breakfast bar - which she thinks is a "cookie"! The entire time she sits there shoving it into her mouth with this look of "Oh ho! Would you look at this! They gave me a COOKIE for BREAKFAST! HA! I win!" And I'm smiling back at her with a look of "Oh no! Would you look at this! She's eating the whole thing without complaint! And it isn't a cookie! Its a fruit and grain bar! I win!"

After breakfast I wanted to make some bars to put in the freezer for Christmas. As soon as I started getting the ingredients out of the pantry, Reagan was at my feet, begging to "SIT!" - which meant she wanted to sit on the kitchen counter and "watch" me. So I tried something new. I hauled a kitchen chair over to the counter and let her stand there and "help". Basically, she spent the whole time helping me by eating the peanuts faster than I could put them in the measuring cup. She also protested loudly when I chopped up 6 whole squares of semi-sweet chocolate. But she did a lovely job of supervising and making the whole process take 3x as long as it normally would. I didn't mind.

After our baking adventures, we played in the basement. Reagan colored yet another picture successfully. I ran loads of laundry through the washer and dryer. Reagan helped me fold the laundry by shaking each dried item as thoroughly as possible. We went back upstairs and read as many books as she could bring to me.

For lunch, I made her some fishsticks. She ate every single one of them with no complaining and then polished off a few other items I placed on her plate. After lunch I asked her if she would like to rock in her chair and sing. She looked up and me and said, "Sesus?" - which is her way of asking if I would sing Jesus Loves Me - her new favorte song. In no time she was snuggled in a pile of blankets, curled up on her momma's shoulder as I sang. When I came to the chorus of "Yes, Jesus Loves Me!" I would pause so she could fit in her own "YES!" After a few choruses and a few other sweet little tunes, she was sound asleep.

She took a nice nap. I did too. She woke up happy again and had a snack. I did too. We played together until Daddy got home. We ate supper and she ate everything we put on her plate except for a few select veggies. Daddy gave her a cookie anyway - a real one this time. I went to wash the dishes and Reagan protested, wanting me to come and play with her and Daddy.

Later that evening we let Reagan help Daddy put up the Christmas tree. She dutifully handed him each branch while Mom supervised from the sofa. When we were done she took a bath and got ready for bed. She ran over to me to give me a hug and kiss after Daddy helped her brush her teeth. I gave her a big hug, said "Nigh nigh, Reagan. I love you!" and she said "Lub ooo!" And I'm fairly sure I melted into a puddle of goo.

It was the simplest most normal day. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. It wasn't perfect - I left out a few naughty moments that earned her a trip to the timeout spot. But it was wonderful just to be able to spend time with her, to hear her laugh, to teach her how to pull up her jeans when they fell too low on her waist, to have her give me a hug for no reason, to see her watching the mixer. It was all so simple and normal and seemingly boring. But to me, it was a great deal of fun. Thanks Reagan, for teaching me that everyday is a special moment.