Sunday, May 13, 2007

My Mother's Day

Anja has been sleeping through the night for about three or four months. All the experts say that solid foods don't help babies sleep all night, but she didn't start doing it until she ate three solid meals a day. I've been sleeping through the night, with usually one trip to the bathroom, for about the past month. When Anja wakes up, it usually means something is wrong and it really jolts me. She woke up at about 2:00 this morning. I gave her some teething medicine because there has been more drool the past few days and she is due for more than four teeth. Then she woke up at 4:00. Usually when she wakes up like that, I take her into our guest bed and sleep with her in there. But this weekend there was someone in our guest bed, so I put her in bed with the sperm donor and me. Which Anja was really excited about. She kept waving to Daddy and crawling all over him. I gave her a little bottle to calm her down. Then she couldn't decide which parent she wanted to sleep on. She would cuddle on Daddy a little, then cuddle on me, then cuddle on Daddy,and so on and so on. She finally lay down next to me and started to doze and I dozed shortly afterwards. But in that short period in between, as I lay in the stillness of the night listening to my daughter snore, I realized that this was my Mother's Day and that, despite groaning at 4 a.m., I was going to wake up next to the two most important people in my world.

Money can't buy that kind of gift.

We all slept in until about 8:30 this morning and we got up and made some pancakes. For Mother's Day, Anja (with the help of her sweet day care teachers) gave me a picture of herself standing at day care, complete with a little frame. The day care has a ballet bar low to the ground for the babies to practice standing. Directly above the bar is a mirror in which they can admire themselves. And there stands Anja, standing at the bar in her little Bohemian hippie shirt I bought her at the Gap, looking in the mirror. After our pancakes, we played with some toys for a while, took a long nap, then went to the mall to buy Mommy's new panini grill!! The sperm donor made us some awesome paninis for dinner - way better than the ones you pay ten dollars for in a restaurant. Today is also my wedding anniversary, so this day couldn't have been more perfect.

Thanks to Martina McBride for letting me borrow this song. I didn't actually ask permission, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind. It shows how lucky I feel to be Anja's Mommy.

In My Daughter's Eyes

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the
world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me gives me
strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand
around my finger
Oh it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy
she made me
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes