Sweet Dreams

Wake up time may vary, and Drake can wake up in a variety of moods, but one thing about our morning routine has been consistent for close to a year now. Since Drake started putting together phrases and short sentences, our first exchange of the day has gone like this:

"Liiiitle Muuuunchkiiin..." as I peek around the door to greet him in his bed. Drake bounces on the mattress, clinging to the red railing and smiling behind his binky. "Good morning my handsome Little Man."

"Moneen, Mommy."

"Did you sleep good?" I ask, as I lift him out of his bed. He wraps his legs around my waist and lays his head on my shoulder, nodding.

"Mm, hm."

"Did you have sweet dreams?" I ask, carrying him to the couch for our morning cuddles.

"Mm, hm."

"What did you dream about?" And then this is my favorite part...

Every day, for who knows how many months now, Drake has responded the same way. "I dweam," he says between yawns, "in my bed."

And that's it. That's all I get. I still have no idea what it is my Little Man dreams about, but there can be no doubt that he does so in his bed. 

Some days start better than others...

Some days, my husband has his first flight at 9 a.m. instead of 7, and he has time enough to sit in bed and read to me as we have our first cup of coffee.

Some days, my son asks to read a book first thing in the morning, rather than watch a movie or cartoon.

Some days, that same little boy takes that same book and impresses the heck out of me. He looks at the cover of his favorite book, Green Eggs and Ham, points to the word "Eggs" and says, "E right dere!" Smiling, I point out the G, and he says "gapes," remembering the picture of grapes behind the letter G in his alphabet puzzle. Same with the H: "heeppo!" I fall further in love with the way his little brain works.

Then, to top it off, he opens the book to a random page and says, shaking his head, "Not a box. Not a house. Not a fox. Not a mouse. Nope! Sam. No. No geen eggs and ham."

Some days, my heart gets filled up right from the start. Filled with gratitude and pride.

I think it's going to be a good day.

A Sunday Well Spent

Coffee and a book.
Small home improvement projects complete with instant gratification.
Sunshine and a run with my husband.
Playing in the grass with our son.
Beers and burgers on the deck with Nana and Baba.
A good shift at work.
Today I am remembering to be grateful for the little things.

How Drake Sleeps

He was complaining that the seatbelt in his carseat hurt his neck, so I handed him this soft beach towel to put between his neck and shoulder. He must have succeeded in making himself comfortable, because he fell straight to sleep after cocooning himself in the thing. I couldn't resist a picture.

A Must Share

I'm breaking the months of radio silence today because this little man of mine has been so incredibly cute, I find it physically impossible not to write about it. I considered a longer-than-average status update on Facebook with the attached adorable photo, and though that would bring the attention that is due to the cuteness that is my son, it would eventually be lost to the mysterious streams of the Facebook Timeline. I wanted something more permanent than that. A record for later reference. Funny. That's kind of why I started this blog in the first place... Anyway! The cuteness:

I'm on vacation this week. It's our 5th Anniversary this Friday, and my husband and I both took most of the week off work in order to spend some good family time together before the insanity that is the school year. Tonight, however, was one of the two nights that my husband had to work, so it was just Drake and I at home. I had intended on making this creamy avocado pasta, but when I started to prep for dinner, I realized my avocados were not yet ripe. Instead of trying to figure out what else to do, I easily convinced myself that ordering takeout from the pub style bar and restaurant where I work and renting a movie was the best, most "vacation worthy" idea. I had been wanting a pulled pork sandwich anyway. I phoned in our order, loaded Drake into the car, and headed to the movie store with visions of some good Mommy/Drake cuddles and a kid appropriate movie that would not drive me insane for having seen it a million times. My plans were almost foiled, as Drake tried to pick out one of the millions of editions of Tom and Jerry, which already plays in some form, on repeat, 24/7 around this house. Nothing against the classics, but Dear God. No more! Thankfully, I was able to convince him to choose from one of the three titles I had selected, and we left the store with Epic.

Have you seen it? It's pretty dang cute. I actually laughed out loud a couple of times. A hit with Mom and Drake alike. *Tiny Spoiler Alert: towards the end, a new Queen is crowned. One at a time, all of her new subjects quietly and reverently bow to her. And this is the part of my story that matters: my son, aged two and a half, turned on his knees to face me on the couch, placed his hand on his chest, closed his eyes, and slowly bowed his head. And then - clincher - he slowly lifted his eyes back to mine, and then wrapped me in a big hug.

That is a TRUE. STORY.

I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't experienced it myself. It sounds way too scripted and perfectly adorable but It. Happened. I died a little inside. All I could say was, "That's right, buddy!" giggle, and hug him as tight as he would allow. It was one of the sweetest little windows into his mind and heart. I think I'll treasure that one for a long time.

The picture is from bath time right after the movie tonight, during which he was pretty hilarious, but I think I'll save that story for another time. Who knows? Maybe I'll start writing again...