Take a compliment

Mark Twain said, "I can live for two months on a good compliment."

What's the best compliment you've received lately? Ever?

In November I took Jesse for a haircut. Simon tagged along. Jesse sat so nicely draped in his racecar robe while the girl trimmed his hair. Meanwhile I sat in a chair with an overhead hair dryer chatting with the stylists while I snuggled, kissed and munched on Simon. About 10 minutes in, the owner of the shop stopped working on the head of hair in front of her and said to me with a huge smile, "It's obvious you really enjoy your children."

Wow. What a compliment.

When Jesse is on my last nerve and Simon's whining seems unending, I remember that compliment and try to enjoy my children as much as I do on a good day when everyone's happy and full of smiles.

What have you been complimented on? Take that compliment to heart. Next time you're frustrated or pissed off, next time you screw something up or feel like nothing can go your way, when that moody friend stops talking to you for no apparent reason, your husband acts like a total dolt, your mother gets on your nerves, your boss is a pain... Think of your best compliment. Take heart! You are good at something, you are a good person, you do something well.

Take a compliment.

Baby Love

You know, just as a little splurge for myself and to help me hone in on what's really important...

This morning Simon wouldn't sleep. He woke around 2:30 ready to rock 'n roll. He's been doing this lately. It's hard to handle at times since I've gotten used to sleeping more than I did when Jesse was a baby. With Jesse, no one slept. Simon's been decent thus far though so when he stopped sleeping well and started all this night waking it was slightly hard to accept at first.

But I digress. Anyway, after about an hour of nursing, shushing and otherwise trying to get him back to sleep I decided just to enjoy the awake time with him. He does this little soft cooing thing in the mornings and I am able to kiss him softly on his mouth, nose, ears, forehead, eyes, shoulders, wrists, wherever and he lies there silently with his eyes closed, softly smiling and cooing while I just kiss and kiss and kiss. The morning shortly after he's woken for the day is usually the only time I can ever do this. Well, around quarter to four this morning I kissed him since he wasn't going back to sleep and he closed his eyes and laid very still. So I kissed him again and he did his little coo. Oh, the game was on! I kissed and kissed and kissed... and he fell back to sleep! Such a sweet boy he is.

Of course, 10 minutes after I fell back to sleep he was up kicking me again. That's ok. This time I just went and got Daddy to take him downstairs to rock him for a while.

Next time he wakes overnight I am just going to enjoy the extra time with him rather than getting frustrated that I am missing out on precious sleep time. Our time together is precious too, no matter when it happens.

I want to go home and snuggle that soft, fuzzy head right now! Three hours to go.