The fierce reality that life will be different in a short ten weeks hit my like a sack of bricks as I snuggled A as she fell asleep for a nap this weekend. There will be fewer afternoon nap time snuggles together, accompanied by a gentle push for her to be more independent because I won’t be able to be in two places all of the time when B arrives.
Once she fell asleep I slipped away to spend time with Ryan during her nap but then he suggested we go in and snuggle her so we were there when she awoke. As he dozed off next to A, I laid awake just studying her sweet face and soaking in all of her sweetness. Memorizing the shape of her nose and the gentle pout of her lip; the way her hair flips into a curl at the tip and the back is filled with ringlets accompanied by lose curls. She’s a ball of fire when she’s awake, keeping me on my toes, enamoring me with the words and smarts she holds inside her mind. She blows me away, this one daily. She challenges me with her sass and stubbornness yet when she sleeps, she’s nothing short of pure sweetness.
This girl of mine, she’s so perfectly created and perfectly her, while sleeping and awake. My heart quivers at the thought of things being different, this life we have created, the routine, will change so much after two and a half years. I say “this is my favorite stage” during every one of them – and I know I’ll say the same about the next one. The stage where I see her grow up just a bit more, and share her gentle sweetness with her brother but right now, I’m soaking up every single second I can with my sweet girl for the next ten weeks. This season of her being my only one will be just that, a season of life that’ll change rapidly but it’ll always be one I’ll cherish for all of my days here.
I spent my little one’s nap time snuggling her and soaking her in again today. She fell asleep next to me in her bed and I decided the other to-dos and work could wait, because not too long from now I’ll wish I took more time to just be with her in the quiet moments, soaking in all of her sweetness and worrying about the other things a bit less.