My Favorite Time of Day

Who knew that my favorite time of day would ever in a million billions years every have anything remotely to do with morning? Not me, I tell ya.

When Reilly was just a wittle wee one, I first realized this phenomena known as "a mama's lack of sleep". And subsequently, the blending of morning and night when baby is young. And before you know it, you are waking up at the crack of dawn before baby is up to get a start on the day, have coffee, take a minute to reflect. And suddenly, you are a morning person? What happened? In my mind, I'm still a sleep-till-noon teenager, except now I'm married to my boyfriend. Like, for sure.

Anyway, somewhere in this tangle of motherly changes, morning became my favorite time of day. A very specific part of the morning, however. I am sitting in the living room, watching the monitor and catching up on my emails, while I sip my coffee. I start hearing the teeny tiny high pitched squeals of the little pip squeak. I recently started calling her pip squeak, and I love it. Cause she squeaks now when she's happy. And, you know, she's pippy.

So she kicks and kicks, and then lifts her feet into the hair and stares at them. Then she scratches her sheets with her fingers, and stares at the sound it is making. Then she says "Da-da-da-dad. Dad. Ahhhhh-da-da-da-daaaaaa." Over and over and over. Until I just want to run in there and get her cause I miss her.



So I go into her room, and she hears me immediately. Sometimes her door makes a little creak, sometimes it's my feet shuffling. But she stops whatever noises she is babbling, and totally freezes, and turns her head toward the door. By the time I peek my head over the crib, she had a huge grin on her face. I love that even though she can't speak, she knows when she hears that noise in the morning, that her mama's coming to pick her up and snuggle her.



Then I change her, and then we play on the bed for as long as she'll giggle. Then she starts to remember that she hasn't had any milk in 12 hours, and starts her little milk whine. And then I breastfeed her, while she works on waking up for the day.

It's my favorite time...playing, snuggling, starting our day. Seeing her excited face. There is nothing better. Okay, one might be tied. Cooking dinner, with my glass of wine, while baby plays, and we wait for Daddy to come home. That's a close second, what with the wine and cooking and all.

Love & Morning Coffee,

Dirt Road Mama