Bedtime Chit Chat

Tonight was one of those nights where you share a moment, or moments, with your kiddo and you don't want to ever forget it. That is what is so great about this blog. We get to save what we write down, so in essence we are keeping a journal to look back on. I have tried various paper journals since becoming a mom but haven't been consistent with any of them. So, tonight's entry is really for us so we can look back on it but I thought it might be a fun read for our family and friends too.

Kai had a really good weekend and today he got to go skiing with Daddy. Well, Daddy skied and the little man rode behind in style in the Chariot on skis sipping warm apple cider, his latest favorite drink. But what he didn't get this weekend was alot of mommy time. I spent part of Saturday morning at a local bike shop doing 2 hours of indoor bike training. Then when I got home, Teia needed feeding, and holding, and then feeding and holding and then feeding and holding again. Today I scooted out in the afternoon for my turn on skis and was gone again for about 2 hours. When I arrived home, the little milk lover was again pining for Mommy's arms and milk. Kai was pretty good about this all weekend long and enjoyed his Daddy time.

Greg and Kai have a pretty well established bedtime routine from the days when my big belly did not permit me to bend over the tub or have Kai sit on my lap for books. They have continued it since I am usually nursing Teia at bedtime. Tonight Kai spied me leaving the bedroom as he stood naked in the bathroom after his bath. He yelled "Daddy go away!" (meant in the nicest way of course), and wanted Mommy to put his diaper and pjs on. So I complied and then Greg moved toward the book reading chair. At this point Kai demanded "Daddy go in bathroom!" and led Greg by the hand into the bathroom and closed the door on him. Good thing Greg is an easy going Daddy! Then Kai led me into his bedroom and climbed onto the chair, book in hand. The message was clear; he wanted some mommy time.

After books and teeth brushing Kai told me he wanted to sit on the chair and wanted mommy to sit on the chair too. This was a little out of the ordinary but I complied. I told him 5 minutes of sitting on the chair and then he'd be "chucked" into his crib (he likes it when I say that, honestly!) Well, he proceeded to sit quietly, cuddled back against me for almost 30 minutes. Those who know Kai well know that sitting quietly does not come easily to our little man who is on the go from the moment its power on in the morning; he even watches TV while bouncing on a trampoline. Well, we sat and we chatted. We talked about some of his favorite things: doors, windows, hinges, houses. We talked about how if he built a snow house outside he wanted it to have snow locks. We looked at shadows on the wall. We talked about the sounds we heard: a snow plow, an airplane, the heater beside us. At one point I asked Kai if he liked cuddling to which he replied "no, just sitting." No problem, we can call it sitting but it was cuddling. He is such a boy. We talked about his time skiing with his Daddy today. He told me he wanted to go "siing with Mommy morrow." We even talked about how he might start sleeping in a bed soon instead of his crib. It was the longest 5 minute countdown Kai has ever had because Mommy didn't want it to end. Finally I knew I had to put him to bed so that both of us could get some sleep so I carried him to the window and we said goodnight to the snow, stars and moon. Kai then added "night night isfmasf tree, night night forest," which I thought was especially precious as he knew that our isfmasf tree (aka Christmas tree) was out there in the cold, stripped of all its glory, lying the forest. Greg had taken him out there to see it a few days ago. (We really need to get a potted tree for next year. I don't know how much more of this sad tree death I can take, especially when I have to explain it to my children).

When you hold your little tiny baby in your arms you can't help but think of the future and what they might be like, what they might say to you, even though you don't want them to grow up too fast and you don't want to rush it. Tonight was one of those nights where I felt like we had arrived at one of those dream moments. I always wondered what it would be like to spend some quiet time in the dark of the night just chatting with my little son. It was extra special too because Greg was quietly listening on the monitor so he got to share in some of what I experienced. We both agreed that it is times like these that make it all worthwhile...