My college self would never believe it, but my favorite time of day is about 6:30 a.m. The Boss wakes with a soft wail, calling for me and when I answer the call he says I just want to cuddle you. I take him into my bed and we snuggle, him tucked under my left arm and lazily nursing as he drifts in and out of sleep. He is all warm skin and soft noises, I rest my cheek on his sweet forehead and drink in the scent of his Burt’s Bees shampoo. (A scent that will surely send me swooning well into my 90′s) It’s heavenly. Catsby quickly takes his place snuggling as close as he can into my left arm nook, his purrs slowly lowering from jet engine roar to barely audible buzz to nothing as he sinks into me.
One by one each member of our family leaves for work and that’s when Puppy Bear joins in; rightfully ousting Catsby from my side and settling in with big anxious sigh. My sweet kitten moves to my right shoulder, purring in my ear as if I am a pirate and he is some sort of parrot-cat. We stay like that, everyone but me, and now the tiny man doing flips in my belly asleep, for about 40 minutes. My mind dreamily decorates my someday house, imagining furniture I will refinish and kids rooms I will design, birthday parties and holiday dinners I will host. I try to memorize The Boss’ sighs and sleepy squeaky noises, wondering if I will be able to recreate this with two babies. Things will change. I know that it’s all the more sweet, but time snuggling with only The Boss will be few and far between.
It’s only a matter of time before my little one rouses, rolling on to my chest and putting his sweet little hands on either side of my face saying oh-so-sweetly Look Mommy, I do want a lollipop for breakfast.
Everything now is Look Mommy, I do. Look Mommy I do want some Scooby Doo. Look Mommy, I do want to play the pano (piano), Look Mommy, I do want to go to the sky.
I kiss his warm sleepy face until he smiles and enjoy those last few moments before the mornings first tantrum arrives. Because of course, he is not getting a lollipop for breakfast.
Be assured, my dear, that it lasts a long, long time. My morning began with my 9 year old, snuggled in close (of course, she wanted to talk about what she had learned about HIV/AIDS yesterday at school), the warmth of her body warming mine. The 7 year old was not far behind (OK, he had come in at 6am and I sent him back to bed for an hour so he was returning for his 2nd attempt at snuggles). My 6 year old climbed in on the other side of my husband…and I wondered why it was that we bought a queen instead of a king sized bed!
* The smell of Burt’s Bees STILL takes me right back to their infancy.
Your morning sounds nice.
My college self would agree with me that 6:30 a.m. is too early, but she would probably despise just about everything else about me.
The mornings were always my favorite time with my kids when they were little, they are happy and refreshed and soooooo sweet, my litle guy at two used to say BEFORE everything he said to me “guess what?” he would then continue with a story or demand! Enjoy, soon they will be teenagers and they DO NOT LIKE THE MORNING! Love ya
Mmm… I want my baby to cuddle with me. I imagine two snugglers will be twice as sweet. (And major props on still nursing! You’re a champ!)
Love it!!
I breastfed both of my boys until 2.5 as well
I would have gone longer but both times something happened and we stopped.
I LOVE IT!!
aww! so special that he still nurses in the morning! i can’t say that our mornings are that angelic. they usually start with a bang! Usually to the tune of “Mama, eeeeeeeat!” “Mama, show!”
It’s moment like those that make me weepy. The power that a small child can hold over you, the amount of love that you feel in those tiny moments, can make your heart feel like it’s going to burst into a thousand little pieces. I want to take moments like those and record them so that I can play them over and over again when my children are grown. That was just precious!
Precious moments, those. And while this routine is surely going to change, the three of you will make new precious moments together. As much as it hurts your heart to know that the sole snuggles with The Boss are going to come to an end, they will be that much sweeter when you are once again snuggling a wee one and his big brother comes in to not only share snuggles with you, but with his sweet wee brother. Hugs to you, as I remember all to well how difficult it was to understand and figure out how my heart could manage what I had with one and then trying to imagine how would be divided for 2. I can say, without a doubt, that it is not divided, but doubled. Something my logical brain couldn’t and can’t figure out, but somehow my heart managed to do (and then was eventually tripled!).
i don’t like 6 am too much but i do love when phoenix says ” i just want to hold you” late at night as we fall asleep or early in the morning. its one of the sweetest things ever.
Hooray for toddler nursing! Your mornings sound heavenly!
Sweet morning indeed, well minus to pets anywhere near my head. But, that’s just me.
Anyway, enjoy those snuggles, they are the BEST!
And to finally answer your question, because I’ve been a slacker. My kids have never known anything different than sleeping in the same room. When they just start out that way, they learn to sleep through about anything. Sometimes maggie is singing or screaming at the top of her lungs and Max is totally passed out. And now….Max can NOT go to sleep by himself. When maggie was gone the other night, he was traumatized and couldn’t sleep. So, he lucked out and got to sleep with Mama.
You captured this moment so beautifully. Since I work, mornings are a rush for us. Night time is my favorite time of day when we can both unwind together.
Wonderfully written!!!!! LOVED IT! and yes.. my old-self-before-kids was not an early morning person.. this self.. would still like to not be… but often.. 6:30am is the start to our day…and I am embracing it
SO sweet! I love first thing in the morning – but my favorite is nighttime, when I cuddle the boys to sleep. Yes, at 4 and 6! Why not?