it's a repost, but I haven't figured out my archives yet. :)
Way too long since the last one, Bubba. I'm sorry.
Annika--
So the hardest part about going to work and sending you to day care took me by surprise. It was when I put you to bed the first night after being at school all day, and I didn't know what to put in "Bubba's song." From when you was born, each night, I'd sing the contents of our day to a lullaby that my mom used to sing me when I was little. It was silly, but there aren't many words to the lullaby and it got dull...and honestly when you were an infant I needed to work to stay awake rocking you, so the laundry list helped.
That first day at work wasn't great, but I broke down that evening when I was sitting in the dark, unable to sing your bedtime song because I didn't know what you had done all day. It was the most forlorn feeling...you of course sat up and said "Mama baby now? There There Mama baby..." like it was part of your favorite game. (You are in a big Mama or Dada baby now...I think it is an excuse to cuddle close, but you pretend you are doing the caring for us. It's really cute.)
Now, I still sing the song, it is just more generic, and it works just fine. Last night, I couldn't be home (for only about the 3rd or 4th time) and I was worried about not being at bedtime. Shouldn't have...I told you that you needed to take care of Daddy, and you did, including singing a long drawn out version of what must have been your day. (Your songs have fewer understandable words than your speech right now.) And you went to sleep. I was a little sad, but so psyched that you can do these things.
Tonight, though? My lord! I asked you to sing to me about the day, and you instantly set off into a tune that mentioned Mama and Daddy and Bubba and Neenie and Moo (who we had talked to on the computer) and Nana and Papa (who had just arrived from the airport) and had so much to say! It was great. But then it was my turn, and we sang about the day, and then what has become standard and requested as the "love you" part of the song:
Mama loves her Annika more than a star...love that is with you whereever you are.
Mama loves her Annika more than the earth...even since before the time of your birth.
Mama loves her Annika more than the sea...you may never know what you mean to me.
Mama loves her Annika more than the sky...never ever doubt it, never ask why.
And tonight as I sung this, with you laying the the crook of my elbow, you reached up and pulled down my head. You put your arm around my head, and put me cheek to cheek with you. Your eyelashes tickled the side of my forehead as I sang, tightly in your grasp. It felt perfect...and is definitely one of those feelings that I want to be able to sear in my mind. So I'm telling you. I love you; good night.
Love, Mama
Annika--
So the hardest part about going to work and sending you to day care took me by surprise. It was when I put you to bed the first night after being at school all day, and I didn't know what to put in "Bubba's song." From when you was born, each night, I'd sing the contents of our day to a lullaby that my mom used to sing me when I was little. It was silly, but there aren't many words to the lullaby and it got dull...and honestly when you were an infant I needed to work to stay awake rocking you, so the laundry list helped.
That first day at work wasn't great, but I broke down that evening when I was sitting in the dark, unable to sing your bedtime song because I didn't know what you had done all day. It was the most forlorn feeling...you of course sat up and said "Mama baby now? There There Mama baby..." like it was part of your favorite game. (You are in a big Mama or Dada baby now...I think it is an excuse to cuddle close, but you pretend you are doing the caring for us. It's really cute.)
Now, I still sing the song, it is just more generic, and it works just fine. Last night, I couldn't be home (for only about the 3rd or 4th time) and I was worried about not being at bedtime. Shouldn't have...I told you that you needed to take care of Daddy, and you did, including singing a long drawn out version of what must have been your day. (Your songs have fewer understandable words than your speech right now.) And you went to sleep. I was a little sad, but so psyched that you can do these things.
Tonight, though? My lord! I asked you to sing to me about the day, and you instantly set off into a tune that mentioned Mama and Daddy and Bubba and Neenie and Moo (who we had talked to on the computer) and Nana and Papa (who had just arrived from the airport) and had so much to say! It was great. But then it was my turn, and we sang about the day, and then what has become standard and requested as the "love you" part of the song:
Mama loves her Annika more than a star...love that is with you whereever you are.
Mama loves her Annika more than the earth...even since before the time of your birth.
Mama loves her Annika more than the sea...you may never know what you mean to me.
Mama loves her Annika more than the sky...never ever doubt it, never ask why.
And tonight as I sung this, with you laying the the crook of my elbow, you reached up and pulled down my head. You put your arm around my head, and put me cheek to cheek with you. Your eyelashes tickled the side of my forehead as I sang, tightly in your grasp. It felt perfect...and is definitely one of those feelings that I want to be able to sear in my mind. So I'm telling you. I love you; good night.
Love, Mama