I'm sure that you parents out there have little things that you've grown to cherish about your child. They could be the way he or she looks at you when you come into a room, a favorite time of day together, or little terms of endearment you may share. One of my newest, most cherished Kibi things has become part of our bedtime ritual, in the form of "'byes" and "pets".
One night a few weeks ago, when I was putting K. to bed, he said, forcefully, "'byes! 'byes!" And I was at a loss for what in the world he meant. Bye-bye? Nooooo. Turns out, he was asking me to sing him a lullaby song (something I usually do pre-bedtime, when we are rocking in our rocking chair)! I melted.
Complimenting the lullabying is something I've done for a long time, which he recently picked up on: stroking his hair as he falls asleep, or as we call it, head "pets". So precious...
So now, whether it's naptime or nighty-nighttime, as I put K. in his bed, he commands: "Byes!" followed quickly by "Pets!"
It's always one of my favorite parts of the day, although I'll admit that there's a trick in getting him settled down enough so that he doesn't constantly repeat the command the minute I stop. (As of late, he's often started protest-crying the minute I stop the lullabying and petting and get ready to leave the room) He also wakes up occasionally at night (I think this is residual from the vacation and time change adjustment) and calls out in the night, "Mommy? Byes!" And I sleepily stumble in and start the routine.
I don't mind it though, at all. Just like we all do, I know how fleeting these days are - the "days of constant contact", as I recently read in a parenting magazine - and this is a welcome part of my day, no matter what time it is. It forces me to slow down, too, and count all of my blessings. Something we should all be doing at this time of year!
