sweet baby mine

Yesterday, Abby had been put down for a nap before I got home for work. That's fine and dandy so I went about getting a few things done while she slept. About an hour after she fell asleep, I hear her crying on the monitor. My standard practice is to give her 5 or 10 mins before going in because often she'll fall back asleep.

But, yesterday I guess I kinda missed her and it sounded like she was pretty much awake, so I went upstairs. At the top of the stairs I paused to listen and didn't hear her. I was kinda sad, but I didn't want to wake her, so I turned to go back down. But then I heard her crying again.

So, I opened her door and saw Abby just lying on her belly crying/whining into the side of her crib - oblivious that I was there. I put my hand on her back and said "good morning, Abby" and she instantly was on her feet with her arms outstretched towards me.

I picked her up and because she was still whimpering a bit, I rocked back and forth and let her put her head on my shoulder. She doesn't do this a lot, so I soaked it up. After a minute or so of breathing in sweet baby scents, I noticed - she was sleeping.

She hasn't fallen asleep on me like that - with her arms wrapped around my neck - ever. I slowly made my way over to our glider, and I was sure I would wake her, but when I sat down, she didn't stir.

And so I rocked her, and then I sat still listening as her breathing became slow and heavy. Soon she was breathing little baby snores. I sat there for five minutes, and then ten, and fifteen - all the while soaking up the utter sweetness that is a sleeping baby.

Forty five minutes later she started to stir. My shirt had a big drool stain on the shoulder and the one side of Abby's face was bright red with shirt/sleep lines all over it. Her eyes were still sleepy and her hair still tousled. But, when she turned her head and saw that I was there and that I was holding her - she broke out in a huge grin. :) Then she started talking to me as if to say, "Heeeey, how did I get here?"

She went from 0 to 60 in no time and before she could finish a yawn, she was grabbing books off the nightstand to read. We sat there and read four or five of the Christmas books I have out before she wanted down to read the books by herself.

I don't know if or when it will happen again, but for forty five minutes yesterday, I sat with my little girl asleep on my shoulder and counted my blessings and breathed in the sweet smell of her hair and I just couldn't believe that I'm a mom. Her mom.

A year later, and its still sinking in.