My Baby Is The Sweetest...

Isabelle is the sweetest baby! Most of the sweet sweet encounters are at bedtime, its the moment I treasure most everyday. When I first became a mother, I thought I would follow parenting tips on strict bedtime rules like getting your toddler to self-settle him/herself to sleep, letting them cry their lungs out and fall asleep, etc. I wanted to... but after all that bonding time we have together at bedtime, I found it harder and harder to follow the rules. You have to hear our bedtime stories to understand why

Example 1

Our bedtime routine always starts with a night prayer to thank God for the day. After which I would sing her some songs, etc. Most of the time Isabelle will climb over me and lie down with her head on my chest. We hug and cuddle. Today she surprised me with the most unexpected act. I was humming the Barney I Love You song, after a few rounds, she clamoured higher up towards me (her head is usually at my chest, but she was trying to get her head to my head level). Guess what? Isabelle wanted to kiss me. I don't know if she understood the meaning of the song, but her actions was truly an act of love. She kissed me non stop, and we started taking turns to exchange kisses... what sweetness! Later on she rolls off to the bed, only to climb back over me again in her final moments before falling asleep. Its a surreal feeling to know I am needed.

Example 2

Isabelle has a habit of waking up in the middle of the night. It's not for a milk feed, but mainly because she feels warm, uncomfortable and in need of a hug, a pat, some rocking. Last night, Isabelle woke up again as usual... and tugged at my arm. I was dead tired, eyes hardly open and murmured "baby, are you ok?". And she climbed over me and hugged me... and that was all she needed to go back to sleep. A few hours later, she woke up again...I was still groggy (real dead tired from the weekend). Again, all she did was curl up towards me with her head on my shoulders.

Example 3

This morning, Isabelle woke up and as usual reached out for her water bottle to sip some water. As usual, I would curl her in my arms, stroke her head and whisper "I Love You". To my surprise, she responded back, it sounded something like "Urr grrr". I repeated myself again, and she responded back again "Mmmm grrr", followed by "Mmmm rrr". I don't know what that means, I would like to think she meant "Me too" but then who taught her that??? I doubt she could have said that, I would secretly like to think that she meant she loved me too???

Can you understand now why my baby is the sweetest? I love her to bits, for her silliest smiles & grins, for her laughter, for her tears (be it real or fake), for her shrieks and screams. I love my baby Isabelle. I was lamenting to D today on how tired i was over the weekend, and his reply was "Tired also worth it right?" . Yes, indeed, tired also worth it!

I used to be a TV addict, looking forward to my 9pm serials. But honestly I would give up anything just to spend bedtime or rather any time with my baby. She is the #1 in my heart!