On the last day of your dad's trip to see his parents over the long weekend, after an epic battle over getting you to go to "quiet time" today in which you threw toys at the door and screamed your most blood-curdling screams, you finally broke into sobs of "mommyyyyyy!" and I was so exasperated from trying to reason with you, to convince you we both needed the quiet time and break, and finally, you managed to squeak out: "I want you to lay with me." And I said, "no, because you won't try to sleep, you'll just play around." And you countered, "No I won't, I'll sleep." And against my better judgment I just lay down with you, no other words spoken. In less than 5 minutes, you had settled yourself down and your curls were tickling my nose and you were breathing deep. You have been sick and you were so exhausted and I'm so proud that you advocated for what you needed and I'm proud of myself for being able to hear you through my own exhaustion and how many more times will you fall asleep cradled in my arms like that? You are so precious to me, little man. You push me to my limits and sometimes bring out my absolute worst but you also give me some of the highest highs that I have known as a parent and I admire your strong spirit and how well you know yourself and how you will not compromise but always demand the absolute best available. I'm proud to be your mama.
