'It's my ONE thing!!!'

Mornin'.

The word that makes some smile and some shudder and makes my husband blind, deaf, and practically mute. You know what I mean? He's the kind that looks at the floor, shuffles, and maybe grunts until he gets his coffee...especially on weekends;) I'll hand it to him though as he has started to become more of a high functioning morning person during the work week; at least he pretends to be when I'm up with him. This morning he 'listened' while I talked to him, and he talked to me about how his coffee maker's delayed brewing setting didn't work and brewed a pot of coffee last night at midnight. He needed to explain to me his frustration when he pushed the button for the coffee this morning. Darn factory settings. (exact words, maybe?) He still manages to make a cute little half smile with his eyes barely open when I tell him how cute he is and when he peeks at Sylvie sleeping; one of the things I love about him.

So my non-morning spouse has this 'ONE thing.' This refers to his 'ONE thing' that can't be messed with, negotiated, or violated under penalty of living with a grumpy Denney. I can count on ONE hand how many times I've violated this 'thing.' Now, for the 'thing': under NO circumstances are the lights to be turned on in the morning; specifically while he is sleeping, waking up, or as a means of trying to wake him up. Heaven help us all if I try to wake him up with the lights;) I did that once, and that is when I heard a lot of grumbling, a dramatic pull of the covers and, "That's my ONE thing!!!! Turn them off!!!!!." I think there were more words said, and it would've been very appropriate if he'd raised a fist or finger in the air for emphais, but what we do remember in this house is that he's picked his one thing. I, of course, pull out Denney's catchphrase for a good laugh every now and then. As he is such a great man, I respect his wishes and will never ever light up the bedroom in the morning.

I should've seen this coming, since Sylvie is Denney's daughter, but it hadn't occured to me until this morning that Sylvie has added this 'thing' to her list. She's a baby and a girl so she apparently inherently comes with quite an extensive list of must haves: food (geez;), sleep, play, Mom, green paci (NOT pink), cuddles (reserving the right to refuse cuddles ), and swaddling for sleep. As she is such a cute baby and its my job to respond to her needs, I respect her wishes and give her everything she needs to feel secure.

Sylvie woke up earlier than usual this mornin' because she went to bed earlier than usual last night, which is a good thing. I've been wanting to move this direction with her bedtimes and our wake up time for a couple weeks now, as babies (4 mo+) are said to do best with earlier bedtimes. So 6:40 rolls around, and she's all smiles and giggles and in serious need of a diaper, which is perfect because I happen to be a diaper changing wizard. Off to the changing table, and I flip on a lamp in the corner as it is somewhat dim at 6:40. Good decision? Nope. By the look on her face it was definitely a bad move. She was so pitiful!!! The smiling baby squinted her little eyes until completely closed and held her little fists up by her face. Its hard to tell if she was trying to smile with her eyes closed (just like her Papa), or if it was an inadvertent smile from squinting, though I assumed it was the former as she was smiling just seconds ago. So I smile and talk to her as I wait for her to open her eyes again; all I get is a sliver of one eye before she shakes her head and squints again! She tried to open her eyes. She really did:) I even shaded her eyes, trying to encourage them to open and slowly adjust. About four times she mustered up the courage to open her eyes, but her eyelids never made it past that teensy sliver of being open.

Then, it hit me. She can't do it. Its her ONE thing; no lights in the morning.

When I finally turned off the lamp, I looked over and her eyes popped open and she started smiling at me. (she is sooo cute! :) We continued to have a great morning and I turned the lights on a few mintues later. This morning I learned my daughter is even more like my husband than I thought and, except for that 'ONE thing', that's really good news!

Sylvie is just about the cutest little thing I've ever seen. I never could have imagined how beautiful she would be. Here I sit 4.5 months after meeting her, and I am even more in awe of the God who made her. I clearly see now what a blessing kids are and I'm only 4.5 months in. Yay, God!