Today I mostly felt like I haven't blogged in so long that I might forget to do it ever again if I didn't use my short span of free time to write something. Basically, I went to class this morning--my Senior course and was so grateful we got out an hour and a half early because I just missed my baby. As soon as I got in the door (after taking a moment to recover from the ridiculous 95-degree weather we are having here--blah) I asked Dalin, "Where's Tenley?" and then snuck into her room to watch her sleeping and tickle her little bare back (it's hot in her room, even with a fan directly on her). She is just an angel and some days, like today, I just have the urge to pick her up out of bed and snuggle her. Of course, I resist 98% of the time because I usually regret waking a sleeping baby but it's hard when you just want to hold that little person you've made.
So anyway, she woke up like ten minutes later much to my mutual dismay and delight, then when I collected her out of bed and gave her a giant hug and kiss, she pointed right at the picture of Jesus on the wall by her bed. I said, "That's Jesus, Tenley," which she knows because I've told her before. Then I held her against my shoulder while she looked at the picture for a moment, then I asked her, "Where is Jesus?" and Tenley, in her infinite eleven-month old wisdom, pointed directly at the picture and made her mum so happy. I am so thankful for this little person in our lives who helps us become better people. She makes me want to be better and really try to be the best mom that I can be for her.
In five days, Tenley will officially be eleven months old (although she was due on the 5th so she is pretty much there). She crawls very fast and walks along furniture like a pro. Her balance (standing without the support of anything) is ever-increasing and it so exciting to watch her gain confidence in herself.
She eats like a bear, and seriously is always ravenous. It is not often that she is not interested in eating. She loves putting everything in her mouth. Especially if it is not food or if it is disgusting. I obviously prevent this as often as possible, but those little toddlers are fast. Especially if they see you coming to stop them, they'll shove stuff in their mouths even faster.
Tenley loves talking. She babbles all day long and is happy to yell to let us know when we are not giving her food fast enough. She is starting to point out things she notices and it is really cute. We don't know where she learned it because we never taught her to point that we recall. Her "wave" goodbye is the cutest thing ever. She opens and closes her hand and sometimes rocks it forward and back. She does it whenever we tell her to wave goodbye. She also claps her hands when we tell her to and gives us high or low fives, which she thinks is funny. Before bed, when I started singing "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam!" and bounced her on "beam" she used to giggle every time, thinking it was pretty hilarious.
A typical day with Tenley (minus school and other interruptions that happen throughout our week) goes something like this:
5:30AM-6:30AM Tenley wakes up and cries for Mama. Mama eventually wakes up enough to get her and bring her into bed with us to nurse her and snuggle her. She sleeps (somewhat restlessly unfortunately for Mom and Dad) in our bed for the next couple of hours until she is starving.
7:30-8AM Mom puts Tenley on the floor to hopefully distract herself while Mom continues to try sleeping. Tenley gets into everything in the meantime, including (if one of us made the fatal mistake of not shutting the bathroom door all the way) getting into the bathroom to touch everything.
8:30AM Finally, Mom gets tired of hearing Tenley tear everything off the shelves and ruining books, and gets up.
8:30AM-9:30AM Mom gets dressed and ready while feeding Tenley various snacks and spoonfuls of rice cereal and sharing Mom's breakfast with her. No food is mine alone anymore.
9:30-NOON Mom tries to relax and rest while Tenley plays and takes the house apart again.
NOON Mom cleans up the house and within an hour a bomb goes off and the house is dirty again. (This is why we avoid eating or doing anything with anything because everything gets destroyed when we do stuff).
1-3PM Mom tries to put Tenley down for a nap. Lasts an hour if I'm lucky, and meanwhile Mom, who fully intended to clean while Tenley was sleeping is too exhausted to do anything except lay on the couch and do some homework, or check my email, or watch TLC.
3-5PM Tenley wakes up and Mom realizes nothing got done in the last three hours. She tries to make a dinner that is somewhat healthy and requires two utensils or less to minimize damage to the kitchen. She eats, but every other bite (or more often) she is interrupted by Tenley who wants me to give her another bite or a sip of juice.
5-7PM Mom attempts to do more homework or reading while avoiding a cranky, needy baby who knows that bedtime is around the corner. Finally, Mom gives up and gets herself some ice cream and milk to share with Tenley while they rock in Daddy's chair and watch TV. She also reads to Tenley and then organizes Tenley's toys while playing a game of her own invention (toss all the small plastic animals in the bin from two feet away). Tenley gets interested in what Mommy's doing and immediately pulls all of the animals back out of the bin.
8-9PM Tenley and Mom wind down for bedtime and read a nighttime book, brush teeth, say a prayer, sing a primary song, and then Tenley is put in her bed with the fan on because it's hot in there in the summer.
9-11PM Mom celebrates having the house to herself for a few minutes and then cleans up the front rooms the best she can. Before long, she starts missing Tenley but knows better than to wake her up. Mom checks on Tenley two or three times to make sure she is breathing because Mom is a worrier and she misses her baby. Mom gets ready for bed, Dad finally gets home from work, and they read and watch TV before bed.
Do it all again the next day. It's a pretty great life. And Tenley is really my little best friend and I'm so thankful I get to spend almost all day every day with her.
Well, I have to go to my other class now. I'll be back to play with my girl in 2.5 hours.
I can't wait until I can stay home all the time with her!
Have a great Monday, people!
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