Babes in Arms

Tomorrow my little princess will be 14 months old. She is growing incredibly fast and I am often wanting for her to go back to a different stage or at least slow down. She has brought so much joy to our family, that I am wanting her to stay small forever.

When Maecie was about 9 months old, she stopped letting me rock her to sleep at night. She wanted to be put in her bed when she was tired. I could close the door and walk away and she would just fall asleep! Clayton was a good baby, but he was never this way. He still wants to sleep in our bed sometimes, even though he is almost 4.

I was really pretty excited when Maecie would do this. How cool that this little girl would want to go to bed and not fight it!

However, the older she gets, the less I like this. I want to hold her, to rock her, to snuggle her. Since she is always on the move, these things don't happen often.

The other day, Maecie was extremely tired. Probably over tired and over stimulated with all of the activities we had going on that day. She was ready for a nap, but after I layed her down, she screamed! I mean, she screamed and screamed and was making herself hoarse! So I went back in. She then picked up her blanket and reached for me. So we sat in the rocking chair and rocked. She snuggled in close and fell asleep. I didn't want to wake her up if she wasn't out, and let's face it, I didn't want to give up this moment, so we rocked for a while. I hummed songs, stroked her hair, and savored each minute.

How do these children grow up so fast? How do they know just what they want at the exact minute and so easily communicate this to us? And how do we make the most of each moment?

I don't know the answer to the first two, other than this is the plan and the way it works. But for the latter, I just know that I have to slow down and enjoy the moments I do have. Rock Maecie to sleep when she will let me....let Clayton climb in my bed in the middle of the night once in a while ... laugh at their jokes and their quick wit .... and wipe away their tears when things don't go their way.