Good Morning Sunshine

I am not a morning person.  I never have been, and never will be.  There is nothing I loathe more (ok, not true, but in the morning perspective can be a hard thing to grasp) than getting out of bed before I am ready and fully rested.  I love the feeling of waking up gently, in a warm bed with a cool breeze blowing on me and spending a full 5 minutes stretching and burrowing back into the pillow.

Unfortunately, not many people lead a life that is conducive to this, and if they do then they are probably not gainfully employed! 

Before Abrielle was born, I pictured the early mornings starting around 5 or 6 am, full of coffee and sleepy eyes.  I assumed based on the horror stories that most everyone feels the need to tell expectant moms that I would feel tired and thus emotional all the time.  As much as I was looking forward to my baby arriving, I knew I was going to miss my mornings in bed (well, on the weekends and days off at least).

When we got Abby home from the hospital for good (she was 5 days old), Ty and I took 3 hour shifts.  She needed to be nursed and bottled because she was jaundice, so I would nurse her, Ty would bottle her, and the one of us would be "on call" if she woke up before the next mandatory feeding.  So, day 5 and 6 were kind of rough.  Day 7, she didn't wake up until 3am, and then again at 6 am.  Day 8 she decided she would like to sleep through the night, thank you very much.  We were fine with this.  When Ty went back to work, I would even pull her into bed with me and we would doze together until about 11am. 

Lately, our mornings have been starting a little earlier (around 8 am) because bedtime is now earlier (around 8 or 8:30 pm).  I really don't mind getting up in the mornings though.  I love walking into her room and saying good morning to her.  Her little head pops up and she gets so excited that all limbs started moving and thumping in the crib.  Her smile is big enough to fill the room and she hoots like a little owl in joy.  How can you be sorry you got up for that?  I pick her up out of her crib and she gives me a quick snuggle, complains during her diaper change until the diaper is actually off, and then looks at me if as though to say "what's next Mama?".



Sometimes we snuggle in bed for a few minutes, but mostly we get up.  I make her breakfast (toast strips, banana and cheerios) and get her set up in her high chair and make my breakfast (coffee and raisin toast).  Then she sits in her high chair and contemplates what on the tray she would like to shove in her mouth first, all while babbling "yayayayayayaya" or making those little hoots.  That is usually when I work on this blog, check my facebook and email, and generally play around on the internet.  It is basically alone time, together.  It is a nice time of day where we are perfectly happy to be physically close to each other, but doing our own thing.  Every now and then we catch each other's eye and I am treated to another sunny smile.



I love our mornings together, and am really going to miss these lazy days together when I go back to work in September.  I know that there will never be another time like this, especially if we have another baby.  So, for now, I am going to soak in every minute.