Hard Times

Goodness...4-6 pm is a hard time in this house.

Let me try to paint the picture for you.

Annabelle wakes up from her nap. She should be well rested, right? After a solid two hour nap? No...not at all. I think she wakes up with the groggy, why can't I just sleep for the rest of the night, feeling. We all know that feeling--it's no fun, no fun at all. But no, she can't sleep for the rest of the night because then she'd wake up 3 am ready to party. And so then we wait desperately for Daddy whose fresh face makes all the groggy go away. We had gotten in the habit of waiting by the window, but as of late, Annabelle isn't so much a fan of waiting for Daddy to get home. And I don't think I am either. We just WANT Daddy to be home...we don't want to wait.

She wants Mommy to hold her. But then when Mommy is holding her, she still isn't happy and reaches all around like she wants something. Unfortunately, I can't quite figure out what. Annabelle, our sweet babe, is a smart little cookie (all parents probably say that and mean it...but I really mean it ;)). I think she really is frustrated with the fact that she can't truly communicate. She has some signs, but not a ton, and some words, but not a ton. This week she learned that a cow says "Moo" and says it when you ask her, but that doesn't really help her in the world of communication. It is pretty dang cute though. I tried video taping it, but of course, she refrained for that 30 seconds. I will capture it though because it is so cute, everybody has to see it!

The best is when Danny gets home. She really does give him the sweetest smiles ever. She loooves her daddy with her whole heart and it just beams out of her. I am happy to pass her off while I try to cook dinner...which was started approximately an hour before with no real evidence of that...I love hearing them play in the family room. Annabelle and Danny rough house and chase each other and she runs into my arms to protect her from the monster that is her daddy. And she does it with this belly laugh. Oh how I wish I could bottle that laugh and keep it forever. After about 30 minutes of this, bedtime routine starts. Danny is in charge of the bath (what a great husband I have!) and plays with her while I finish up dinner, get her night diaper ready, and pjs set out. He wraps her up warmly in her little lady bug towel and I get her ready for bed...warm a bottle and snuggle with her as I rock her to sleep. Oh my little Annabelle. We'll blink and you'll be so much bigger!

So somehow, the hard times are also the best times. Isn't life funny like that...