No one said that parenthood was easy, and it's not. There are times when you feel like you might literally pull out your hair or times when you try to rationalize the good that would come of locking them in a room for ten minutes (don't worry, I've never done this). There are constant situations that arise where you find yourself back peddling on your previous statement, "I would never let me child _____" because if that is going to calm them down for the next 5 minutes, then sure, they can play with your cell phone and make international calls to Africa or wherever it is.
But then there are moments. Moments that make it all worth it. Eye contact with one another that let you know, yeah, she gets it. Sweet hugs. Innocent gestures of love that she doesn't even completely understand that she is doing. These are brief little moments that you get throughout the day that keep you going until the next one. I want to share two of these moments that I've had with Addie so that we can read this together and she'll know the special bond that we shared even at the young age of 16 months.
When Addison was getting old enough to take an interest in Delilah (our Great Dane) I started teaching her "gentle". As you know, little ones tend to slap or pound on things as opposed to petting or rubbing. So, to give her an example, I would take her hand put it on my face and rub very gently while saying "gentle". When she got a little older and we were teaching her where her nose, mouth, ears and eyes are she would often point to our face, rather forcefully, and show us where our facial features were as well. I would say, "no ma'am, be gentle." And with the sweetest, most loving face she would pause, take her hand, put it on my face and gently rub it. Her way of saying, I love you, when she couldn't yet say it. Now, if I'm going to be really honest, and I am, I have to confess that about 2 minutes later she was back to gauging my eyes out. But that moment made it all worth it.
The other one I want to share happened this evening while I was putting her to bed. As I was rocking her and listening to her lullaby CD, her eyes started to get heavy. I leaned down and kissed her on the back of her hand. Her eyes kind of woke up for a minute and she began to put the back of her hand to my lips over and over again for more kisses. Of course, she had no idea how much this melted my heart but as I sat there and looked at her I had a moment with her. We just looked at each other for a long pause as if to signify our mutual love for one another.
Addison, my love for you began the day that I found out I was pregnant with you, and as you read this I can tell you that it has grown exponentially. Thank you for all of our sweet moments.
