Hanging out with my girl

As a working mom, I cherish every moment I can spend with my daughter. I look forward to each Friday afternoon, knowing that I will be spending the next, two full days with my girl. So, when my employers told us that our office was closed from Wednesday to Friday (due to the unavailability of the new office space we are moving to), I was overjoyed.

The last two days of hanging out with my daughter have been wonderful. On Wednesday, we had to go to her pediatrician's office for her follow-up appointment for her urinary tract infection. I was so proud of my baby when she didn't cry or even wimper when they stuck her with a needle for some blood work. Afterwards, we went to a nearby mall, had breakfast and did a little shopping. For being such a good girl during her doctor's appointment, I bought her a Dora the Explorer doll, which she now carries around with her everywhere she goes, even to bed. After going home, we took a two-hour nap together then baked some gingerbread cookies. She had a blast using the cookie cutters and "decorating" (i.e. drenching) the cookies with icing.

Today, we played hide-and-seek and read some stories in the morning, then went to the park after her afternoon nap. After getting static shocks from the slides, we stopped for a snack and played peek-a-boo. The sound of her giggles just made my heart melt. After some Christmas shopping, we went home, had dinner, played some more peek-a-boo and tickle fights, a bath, then bedtime stories with Dora and her talking Winnie the Pooh doll. Now, my baby is asleep, tucked under her blankie with Dora and Pooh.

It's going to be snowing and freezing tomorrow, so we're probably just going to stay in. I know we're going to have a blast no matter what we do. And I know I will tuck these memories away in my heart, taking them out now and then to look at when I'm at work and when I need something to make my day a little bit more bearable.