Fabulous Friday

The day started very early this morning, with a wake-up at 0630. For some families this is routine, or even sleeping in (yikes!) but neither Bella nor I tend to act human before 7am. This morning was no exception, we just happened to be awake. With her early request for milk I took her to my bed to "nuggle" and maybe even fall back asleep! No luck. In fact, Bella had just nestled down on my lap with her head resting on my belly when Little Hidden One decided he/she did not like the encroachment on his space and started kicking her in the head! Poor Bella, how was she supposed to fall back asleep when I could watch her head visibly move with each thump?

The plus side to being awake early is that there is no struggle at all to make it to Mass. Well, ok, at least there shouldn't be, but we had our daily installment of the Getting Dressed Olympics. This is a series of sporting events beginning with the Removal of Jammies, an event in which Bella lays there patiently smiling, happy to be getting naked, until she realizes that it is now cold. Mama then faces the task of completing the removal with Bella plastered against her, burrowing into Mama's chest for warmth. You might think that this makes our next event, the Placement of a Clean Shirt, an easy task, but you would be mistaken. No, after the initial shock Bella decides she likes being chilly, and so this event involves getting 24 arms into 2 arm holes. Then of course we have the You Must Have a Clean Diaper relay, in which you must complete all necessary steps of a successful diaper change while holding 36 legs still and maintaining the appropriate supine posture. By this time neither of you notices the cold, and in fact Mama is sweating and her hair clip is in Bella's hands in a desperate attempt to distract her. Begin singing silly songs before initiating the next event. Finding the Matching Pants You Just Had In Your Hand is the next in our Olympic series; in this task you must employ all creativity to get Bella to stay on the changing table while you step back to scan the room for said pants. Hint: crawl on your hands and knees under the changing table; the pants are most likely to be located tossed on top of the heater vent. If this fails, check the dresser drawer. Having made it this far we at least know we are on the homeward stretch. Bella like shoes and socks, so the only challenge here is making sure the shoes are lined up for immediate placement after the socks, lest the need to find her toes takes over. When all is said and done, the race is completed and points are tallied, do you win a gold medal? Nah, you just have a dressed child!

Isabella is definitely feeling better as also evidenced by her wiggles and squirms at Mass, but that is much easier to handle. I consider the normal activity and babble of a toddler to be completely acceptable, and luckily the people around me do, too.
After she fell asleep literally in our driveway, I was afforded a few minutes of peace and quiet to myself. Of course this actually means emptying the dishwasher and starting laundry, but I also inserted the luxury of making coffee and internet time! As I sit here sipping my hot coffee there is a beautiful snowfall swirling around the great outdoors. The flakes are abundant, creating a beautiful, gentle curtain of white against the colors of our suburban neighborhood. It accumulates in the grass, forming a heavy dusting and adding the Artist's touch to the gray day. I am thankful for my warm house and yummy flavored coffee while I watch a perfect display of the glories of the change of seasons. Strange, a week ago I wrote about the fall colors, and I'm already nestling into a winter's day.

Augh! The peaceful scene is interrupted by a %$&*! dog barking right outside the window, which has startled my little Bella awake. Back to reality - lunch and playtime, coming right up!