Dear Peighton,
You are no stranger of routine...afterall, you are your mothers daughter and I think you thrive in an environment that allows you to stay on a schedule. For example, bedtime. Every night we do the same things. Dinner at 6:30pm, bathtime at 7pm, jammies by 7:30, Curious George/Mickey Mouse Clubhouse/Toy Story/ or Gnomeo & Juliet until 8pm (while cuddling on mommy's bed with eachother, night-nights, and pinkey), then to your crib where we read a book together. After I turn on your sound machine and turn out the light I say goodnight and tell you I love you. You are such a good kid because you say "I love you" and go right to sleep without a fuss. I love this part of the day because it is such a special bonding time for us. After you go to bed, I have my routine as well which usually includes some sort of exercise followed by working on a project like painting, crocheting, fiddling around on the iPad (which you love to do too), or hunting for a job in Maine or Rhode Island/Massachusetts. I love our nights but this post is all about the mornings! I never thought I would say I love the mornings that I work because, in general, they are stressful but recently something wonderful has happened. Again, work mornings include a very strict routine and I need to have everything done and ready to go by the time you wake up or I am thrown off for the day. First, I get myself ready, then I head downstairs to round up you stuff for school and my stuff for work. This is where the magic happens. It's usually right as I am putting your Eggo waffle in the micorwave (yes, I do micro your waffle...you prefer it this way versus toasted). I have the monitor to your room on and I hear you wake up by rustling a little and then I hear "HI MOMMY" which you yell at the top of your lungs. Just yesterday you started yelling....."YOU COMING". I usually yell back to you and tell you that I am coming as soon as your waffle is ready. You say, "YEAH, waffle". You melt mommy's heart with this behavior. When I head back upstairs to get you, it's like clockwork. You are sitting in your crib with your favorite toys all around you - Goosy (aka. Goofy), Dora, Monkey, Lambie, Doggie, your blankets pinkey and night-nights, Minnie, and Mickey. I hand you your waffle, which you are very excited about, and proceed to get you dressed and ready for your big day at "school". During this time we always talk about how you slept and what you dreamed about. You come up with some really funny things lately! Usually you tell me you dreamt about chocolate or wafffles, sometimes it's doggies or your friends from school. I can't tell you how much I am enjoying hearing what your thoughts are. You are finally really talking, stringing three or more words together. You have been suprising me since the day you were born with you witt but now that I can actually hear how smart you are, it blows me away! You can already count to 13 (because we have 13 stairs in our house and you count them every time we go up them), you can sing your ABC's for the most part, you know every single one of your body parts, you love to sing Happy Birthday, you repeat every word perfectly (yesterday, I said "c'est la vie" which means "that's life" in French and you said it right back...."c'est la vie"). Last week we were getting out of the car and it was pretty chilly outside and you just looked at me and said, "Mommy, it's cold outside" as if you had been speaking in sentences for months. I love every second of watching you grow and learn! What really made my day this morning was when you grabbed both my cheeks and looked me right in the eye and said, "I love you Mommy". I adore you child! You have made each day precious!
