So much that I hate to see her go to bed at night. When she gets fussy and I know it’s time for the night-time bottle, I get kind of bummed because I know she’s going to take that bottle and go to sleep in my arms, and my joy will end for the day. Sometimes Jessica and I will go out without America and the whole time we’re gone I think about whether we’re going to get back home before Nini gives her the night-time bottle, or before she gets too fussy to play before she has to go to bed.
I love to spend time with her before we go to bed, but waking up in the morning and going into her room and seeing her standing there in her bed is one of the biggest thrills of my day. Sometimes she doesn’t see me standing in the doorway and I’ll just stand there and wait until she happens to look my way and I get to see that big smile appear on her face. One of these days I’m going to take the camera with me when I go to her room in the mornings so I can show everyone the smile that makes me want to get out of bed in the mornings.
I think the best part of my day is picking America up at the babysitters house. She’s usually playing in the floor and being good, but I’ll softly say something and she’ll turn around to see me, and give me that big smile. She immediately drops whatever she’s doing and comes to me in her fastest crawl. Sometimes she can’t wait to get to me and she’ll start reaching up for me right before she gets to me, but most of the time she’ll wait until she can reach the legs of my pants before she starts reaching up. By this time I’m usually bending down to take her hands and pull her up to me. When I pick her up she starts waving at everybody because she knows she’s leaving.
Tonight she did something different. We let her stay at the sitters house while we went to a memorial service for a friend. When we got back to pick her up and we went through our little routine (just described in the previous paragraph) I started talking to Jessica and Regina while I was holding America (not paying much attention to her) and she leaned forward and put her face in front of mine to get my attention (smiling the whole time). She kept doing this until we walked out the door. It was like she was saying “Hey! Did you forget about me?” with a big smile.
I love her so much that when she’s sick (stuffy nose, etc.) I’ll sleep in the recliner all night just so she can be in a more upright position and breathe better. I did that on Thursday night/Friday morning and I was exhausted when the alarm went off at 5am. The exhaustion was nothing a Starbuck’s White-Chocolate Mocha couldn’t fix (at nearly $5.00 I might add… that’s crazy!).
So needless to say, I’m crazy about my girl. I try to spend as much time with her as I can because she won’t be little forever, and pretty soon the small-fry will be here. Now don’t get me wrong, she can be a bad girl sometimes when I’m writing code (in other words, working) and she pulls herself up to my laptop and starts pushing keys (I’m convinced she does this just to get my attention). However, I always have Control-Z to undo the keys she presses. I just hope I can be the best dad for her because there is no Control-Z key combo for life’s mistakes, but oh how I wish there was.
I am so happy that you all are getting to make the long journey through parenthood at last. Never doubt yourself, you both will make amazing parents and you have The Good Lord to guide you.
Never, when Jessica was a little girl did I ever imagine her being a mother. Those days are still vivid in my memory.
I wish you all a lifetime of happiness and good health and pray the Lord’s blessings rain down upon you.
I love the pic of Kevin and Meck snoozing for reasons 1)Charlie is also under the blaket and 2)She is in her typical spread-eagle that she takes when sleeping on someone. That kid cracks me up, she’s just so perfect!