Milestones

This weekend was Eva's first ever daylight savings time change. I had a conversation with her on Saturday afternoon about how daylight savings time was ending for the year, and that meant we got an extra hour of sleep this weekend. She responded, "BaBa dawoo kitty cat no no bawk bawk mama," Which I, of course, translated as, "Yes mother, I understand and I will enjoy sleeping in late on Sunday. It will be my pleasure to ensure you get your hour of extra sleep." Yeah... at 5:00 in the morning on Sunday, I laid in bed while my daughter simultaneously bounced on my stomach, giggled and instructed me on the exact location of my nose, and I contemplated many life lessons. I wonder how old she will be before she enjoys sleeping in also...

On Saturday, this weekend, David and I went out by ourselves for the first time since we got Eva. It was weird. David said that he kept looking in the back seat expecting to see her in her car seat... she wasn't. Granny was the babysitter. She was very proud of herself because she got Eva to sleep (she fell asleep while Granny read her stories) within 30 minutes of us leaving the house, then she put her on her matt on the floor. David and I intended to put her in the crib when we got home. After Eva had slept for nearly three hours, our cat Ginger decided she needed to go and lick on Eva's face. Yeah... it woke her up. Eva is irrational when she is woken up and so when I called at 8:45, she was screaming in the background. We came home early. Next time, the cats go outside, even if it is cold. It took us until 11:30 to get her back to sleep. Which is partly what I contemplated as I laid in bed awake at 5:00 a.m.

Despite the lack of sleep, Sunday was a great day for us. Eva had her dedication. It was a beautiful and spiritual day. Eva slept through the first part of it, but then woke up during the prophetic words. I made a video of when we first got Eva in China and the dance team at our church learned how to dance with traditional Chinese fans to accompany the video. It was amazing. In any case, Eva watched it all avidly. When the first picture of her BaBa came on the screen, she yelled out "Baba" so everyone could hear... it was very cute. I ended up holding her for about 2 hours straight through on Sunday... She's about 27 lbs now, and my arms ache like they haven't hurt in years. It was worth it.

Another big change in Eva's life...she has moved up diaper size from #4 Huggies to #5. For some reason, that fact makes me feel a little sad, or maybe I am just emotional due to the 5:00 a.m. wake up call. In either case, she is growing up fast.

Some of you will fully appreciate the significance of this last milestone, others not so much. But, for the last couple of weeks Eva has started leaning into me every time she sits next to me on the chair. And, when I hold her, she will mold her body into mine every single time now. I am thrilled at the level of attachment this little girl has built towards us. At the same time, I am feeling the responsibility of a motherhood on my life for her. I still think this is the best gig going... despite the missing sleep.