Three years ago today we were given the best gift ever. We couldn’t have imagined how you would change our lives, you and your strong personality. We went out to dinner with Daddy tonight and I had the radio turned up loud and you still talked the entire way home. The entire way.
In the past month you have turned into such a little girl. It could be the missing chucho, but you seem so much older lately. There is almost no toddler in you left. It makes me both sad but also excited for who you are becoming.
I may complain that you talk too much, or that you won’t sit still to eat a meal, or that you do a little dance so I can’t put your pants on, or that you yell random numbers in Hindi while jumping on the bed when you should be asleep, or that you hold my hand too much trying to fall asleep, or that your laugh makes me laugh so hard my tummy hurts, or how I can’t concentrate at work when it is raining because I would rather be home jumping in puddles with you. But make no mistake my sweet bean, I wouldn’t change even one of the 1.57 million minutes we have spent together. I love you to pieces. Happy Birthday.
At this time of year it is easy to get caught up in the buying, the rushing, the chaos and pressure of getting it all done. People are cranky and grumpy and tearing around the malls trying to get the best deal. Those people have lost sight of what this time of year is all about. This time of year is about family and friends, about what is truly important, about the little things in life that make it all worth while. Sometimes it is snuggling with the bean while she falls asleep that reminds me to take a moment and enjoy this time. Sometimes it is the quiet of a winter’s night and the calm a fresh snowfall brings. And sometimes it is videos like this. Laugh it up and Merry Stinkin’ Christmas!
Sofia has had a chucho since the day she was born. Earlier this year we had weaned her down to just using it during naps, bedtimes, or when we knew she was really exhausted and just needed to calm down. We have gone through so many chuchos this year and when we got down to one I just thought “when this one gets lost we will be done with chuchos”. That was two months ago. I can’t even keep track of my shoes so I was shocked when we managed to hang on to that one little chucho for weeks.
The other night Sofia had woken up in the middle of the night so I brought her back to our bed. She fell asleep immediately but I was kept up with the blissful wheezing of a chucho with a whole in it. I finally fell asleep only to be woken up moments later by Sofia looking for the lost chucho. Exhausted, the next morning I decided that was it. Friday night we were going cold turkey. No more chuchos. I thought this would give us a buffer for two screaming nights and hopefully she would be getting some sleep by Sunday night.
Bean never ceases to amaze me. The first night she cried for a couple minutes, then asked “the Great Pumpkin took my chucho?” and I said “uh, sure, yea”, and she rolled over and went to sleep. She woke up in the middle of the night really upset but a small snack and a quick snuggle with Daddy and she was all good. Since then she will ask once before bed for chucho but that is it. I was prepared for a fight and she is taking it like a pro. It makes me a tad sad as it is the end of her being a baby. I think about how she is turning three in a few weeks and my little bean is growing up. And then she throws the mother or all tantrums and I think maybe, just maybe, she has a little toddler left in her.
I showed my support of NoBloPoMo by posting only once in November. I didn’t post every day like other bloggers, in fact I avoided it at all costs. Busy with work, tweeting and facebooking. Now it is December and I am forcing myself to slow down. I love this month, this time between Thanksgiving and Christmas and wish it was like this all year long. It sure is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. My sisters and I had our baking party yesterday, Sofia and I put up our Christmas tree, and tonight we made our ElfYourself video. This year they had hip hop. Hilare.
