Cuddle bug

On most mornings, Alli will sleep until 6-6:30am before she wakes up and is hungry. On the weekends or days that Mommy B doesn't have to work, we'll usually get up and feed Alli and let the dog out to pee (and feed her as well, of course). Most of the time she'll eat for a bit, get a diaper change and fall back to sleep within an hour. Naturally, that means Mommy B and I can go back to sleep for a little while longer too. On weekdays, this doesn't affect me because I'm out the door to work by the time she goes back to sleep anyway.

Today was a little different. Alli decided that she wanted to wake up around 5:30 or so when Mommy B finished getting dressed for work. This isn't too abnormal for her, and it just means that I have to start my morning routine with her a little earlier. So Mommy B brought her downstairs and fed her while I had breakfast, and around 6 she was acting sleepy again. I figured she could go back to sleep for about 45 minutes until it was time to get up again and head off to daycare.

Well, she wasn't having it. I tried to put her back to bed while I finished getting ready for work, but she didn't feel like it apparently. First, she flipped over to her back - even though I put rolled up towels on either side of her to prevent her from rolling over. And if you recall previous blog posts, Alli doesn't sleep when she's on her back. She started out just babbling and making other noises while I brushed my teeth but it quickly escalated to a full cry. I scrambled to finish getting dressed so I could go pick her up - I'm surprised I have matching socks on today. Of course, the second I picked her up, the crying stopped. The bad news was that I had to put her back down on the changing table so I could get her dressed.

She really didn't like that. The cry she had before turned into a full-fledged scream. I haven't heard her scream like that since she was a little infant - so needless to say I moved as quickly as I could to get her dressed. Add the fact that I now have to disinfect her earrings and "turn" them three times, the princess was none too thrilled. Does everyone recall my blog post about my baseball gloves for hands? Mini-buttons were hard enough... now you expect me to grasp and spin a 5-month-old's earrings? Riiiiiiiight...

I managed to get Alli dressed (even had matching socks on too), earrings cleaned and back into my arms in no time flat. Even though it didn't feel like it while she was screaming at me, I was able to make quick work of the task at hand. Of course, the second I picked her up and held her close to me - the crying ceased. It was like someone had turned off a faucet.

While I was getting her bottles ready for daycare, I noticed Alli was holding on really close to me and being very cuddly. She actually leaned her head in and rested it on my neck/shoulder - when normally she holds her head up and is looking around at things. I could clearly tell that something had made her uncomfortable earlier, and only cuddling close to daddy would make it all better. It actually choked me up a bit as I was getting her things together. It reminded me how much I love this little girl with all my heart... and how good it feels to be able to make her feel better just by holding her close to me. I can only hope that it stays that way forever, even when she's taller than me.