One of Those Days.

Today Baby-Rae was having one of those days.
The kind of day where she refuses to be cheerful if she's not being held or at least receiving attention in some way or another, particularly from her Mama.

It could be because she has been missing the constant barrage of love n' kisses she got from aunties, uncles, and grandparents last week. It could be because her little gums are tender and she just wanted to be held. It could be both, or something completely different, the message being lost in translation.
Whatever the reason, she insisted on being wherever I was, at least within a foot, but preferably attached.

(And part of me kind of loved that....shhh, don't tell.)

So she became my newest limb. We snuggled and chatted, she reached for things she should never eat while I made breakfast, and insisted on getting in some assisted walking time.

...Babies are so demanding... :)

Then she went down for her morning nap, and despite all my best efforts to just let her fuss it out when she woke up after not-long-enough, it was harder today, for some reason, to hear her cry.

...Maybe I'm having one of those days, too.

So I caved. I got her out, and we cuddled to the tune of her drinking her bottle. I put her on the floor and laid down beside her. As I was curled around her on my side, reading my book, I felt something on my elbow. I looked and there she was, sucking on it. I laughed, out loud, and she peeked around my arm to see what the deal was. She grinned...and went back to sucking my elbow, peeking around every couple seconds to smile as I continued to giggle uncontrollably.
....Who sucks an elbow??... AND.... it tickled.

I hugged her so hard so many times today. I threw out plans I had to play with her and the Toddler because there was no way Baby-Rae was letting me get much done without her. We ran around the kitchen. We read library books fifty times. Almost everything else a baby and toddler could want to do, we did.

It was a good day.

I love being a mom.
Occasionally I'll wish that I didn't have to clean the house or cook the meals....but I have never wished I could hand back my title of Mother. That one, I cherish.

I wonder sometimes if I'll get to spend as much one-on-one time with my future kids as I do with my Baby-Rae. Maybe it just takes more planning, more conscious effort to squeeze it in. Maybe first babies get to be first because they need centre-stage for a while, the rest come after because they are a-okay with proportionally less mom-only time.
Maybe I'll be surprised by how easy it is to manage.
Maybe I'll be surprised by how tough it is.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.
Maybe I'll find out someday soon-ish.