Precious Moments

Just in the last month or so, I've shared some very special little moments with my girls. Each one was too small to share on its own, but I finally decided to collect them together into a single post so I don't forget the tiny precious moments that make motherhood so wonderful. 
On March 20th, the night before Evie's birthday, Elizabeth was unwilling to go to bed. Every time one of us put her down, she would immediately start crying. Finally, I got out of bed, picked her up, and just held her in my rocking chair. I didn't get upset or anything; I just took it as an opportunity to snuggle my little baby. I held her against my shoulder, and she snuggled into my neck and curled her little arm around to hold me tight. We stayed like that for several minutes, just rocking and snuggling in the dark. When I finally went to put her down, she squeezed my neck one more time before burrowing into her blankets and drifting to sleep. It was a very private moment for just the two of us: one I think we both needed. I'm grateful that I took the opportunity to be patient and let my daughter cling to her Mommy until she was really ready to let go.
Two days later, on March 22nd, Evie took a nap. That in itself is impressive since she's fought against bedtime for pretty much her whole life, and hasn't taken a regular nap in months. But this specific occasion was extra special because Evie fell asleep in my arms. This is my independent child, who has always preferred playing to letting me snuggle her. This time, though, she brought me her fuzzy blankie and let me hold her against my chest. A couple of minutes later, I noticed that she'd fallen asleep. I stayed very still and just savored the moment. They are becoming increasingly rare and I wanted to treasure what might very well be the last time my Evie girl falls asleep while I'm holding her. I'm grateful I got to just snuggle my little girl and feel the precious peace of the occasion surrounding us.
A couple of days after that, on that awful day when THE CRISIS happened, there was a tiny moment of sunshine amidst all of the darkness. When the social worker was sitting across from me, questioning my value as a mother, Ella climbed up on the couch next to me and, out of nowhere, gave me a kiss on my cheek. I treasure that memory because Elizabeth is much less demonstrative than her sister. Evie will readily give hugs and kisses, but Ella seems to need a bit more coaxing to demonstrate physical affection. So for her to kiss me, completely unprompted, at the very moment when I was feeling most dejected, it seemed like a clear sign that, regardless of anyone else's opinion, I was doing alright. I needed that right then, and I'm grateful that I was given such a priceless gift from my little one.
Last month, on April 19th, Todd and I went out to dinner at a little Mexican restaurant. I got up from the table to take Evie potty, and heard Elizabeth say (actually wail) her very first word as I left: "Mama!" I thought it must just be a fluke, but when I came back and sat down again, Ella said it again, this time as a statement. It was obvious to both Todd and me that this wasn't a random set of sounds; she was actually associating those sounds with me and was calling my name. I was so thrilled and honored that, out of all of the words out there that she could have chosen, my name was the first one she said!
More recently, just last week on May 1st, Ella was playing with Todd. They were playing peek-a-boo or hide-and-seek together. Ella was sitting on my lap on the couch while Todd hid behind it. When he popped up, she went into gales of laughter and they started all over again. If he took longer to pop up, she started to get concerned; she craned over the edge to look at him, instantly grinned, and pulled away so he couldn't catch her. This game of theirs went on for probably a half-hour, and neither of them seemed to get bored with it. It warmed my heart to see my little girl and her Daddy bonding and playing so happily together.
Finally, yesterday, we went to the zoo. The entire ride home, all I heard was laughter coming from both girls. I looked back just to see what was going on. They were holding hands and looking at each other and just giggling together. One of them would start giggling, seemingly for no reason, but then the other one would join in, and they would just feed off of each other the entire way home. My eyes actually welled up because it was such a beautiful happy sound. I loved hearing my sweet girls have so much fun together as sisters and as friends!