Girl days

Bella and I have enjoyed our weekend together. Yesterday we curled up together in "mama-daddy bed" for naptime. We were both exhausted and cranky, so we quickly fell into slumber. I woke up about 30 minutes later with Bella's little 30-month-old hand on my check and her cheek against my forehead. I considered extricating myself, but then just closed my eyes again and enjoyed the rare silence with my darling Baybell.

We then went over to a friend's house for dinner, where Bella played (and fought) with another little girl while I had a planning session for (yet) another fundraiser we're holding this month. All too soon, it was after 9 pm and my baby girl was overtired. We sang and danced to some new music and then she laid her head against my shoulder as I brought her inside.

Normally she'd fight and fuss to stay up, but last night she said, "I want my foots pjs, Mama. I so sweepy." I held her in my lap to change her into bedclothes, carried her up to her room, and got her all tucked in. She asked for "tisses hugs!" and her Rodney monkey, and then she turned over and went off to sleep.

I expected a crazed maniac in place of this peapie when she woke up this morning, but she's been mellow and loving. Not once has she tried to claw my face off or kick me in the shins. Rather, she's listened and laughed and used her big-girl voice. I think part of her attitude is she gets to be an only child this weekend and another part is she misses her daddy and is feeling needy in his absence.

But what makes this lazy Sunday so wonderful right now, is that another part of her gentle bearing this weekend is I've been able to devote all my resources to her. There's no man-child or boy-child to divide me. There's no work, no back-to-back obligations. It's just the two of us and our own little agenda.

I can't wait for my boys to come home, but I have a new-found appreciation for girls' weekends.