A Mommy and her little girl

I wanted to blog about my sweet little girl so when she is a teenager, I can remember how sweet she was, and that she did love me:) Sometimes I feel like I am raising myself. I look at my Jenna, and see things that I did, I remember liking the same things she does. She is my little buddy. She will play with her brothers for short bursts, but most of the day is spent following me around. This is how it starts:
I get out of bed early in the morning and get in the bath. Yes, I like to relax and take a bath in the morning. That's why I get up early. After the first few minutes, I see a half asleep baby girl, with extremely crazy hair, stumble into the bathroom and give me a big smile. She wants to take a bath too. So she gets in the bath with me to snuggle. She loves me to put a washcloth on her back and tell her its her blanky.
When I am putting my makeup on and fixing my hair, Jenna sits in my bathroom sink, as she has done since she was about 3 or 4 months old (only then she sat in her Bumbo). She watches everything I do, and says "Oh Pretty" all along the way, its like I have a little cheerleader. She plays with my makeup, brushes, and watches, but she loves it when it is her turn. I fix her hair, then she looks over at her bows and says, "Oh WOWS!!!" So I put in a bow and tell her, "Oh Wow! How pretty!"
When I am dancing (choreographing or practicing for Zumba), my little girl is right under foot, trying out every move. We have spent countless hours dancing in the living room together. When she was a baby, I would turn the music on and hold her to dance. She would put her head on my shoulder and be totally at peace.
Piano time used to be my relaxing time. Now as I sit to play, I have a little partner on the bench beside me and adding her KLUNK, KLUNK, KLUNKS to the song. I like to think of it as a duet! I was practicing a song that I was asked to sing, so I was playing the piano for myself, and Jenna was adding her KLUNK, KLUNKS again. I had to laugh, between Jenna's piano and her singing (very loudly I might add), I couldn't even hear myself.
If I am in the kitchen, you can guarantee Jenna is there also. I give her a bowl and spoon for her to stir, but that only lasts a short second. She comes to me and says, "Hold me!" So I usually cook dinner, with her on my hip. And yes, she is getting a little heavy. Clean up time! Don't worry Jenna does not ditch me. She gets her own washcloth and gets busy wiping anything she can.
Whether I am on the computer, talking on the phone, grading papers, painting my nails, pulling weeds... Jenna faithfully stays with me. I am typing this with her on my lap, looking up and smiling at me.
Bedtime is my favorite time with babies. We go in and have prayers with the boys at 9:00. We kneel next to Taylor's bed, and Jenna has to be right next to Dad. If one of the boys is there, she says, "My Spot". Jenna has said her version of prayer since she was about 10 months old. She says the first prayer. She buries her head in the bed, folds her arms, and babbles for a while, then holds her hands out and shouts "MEN!" (amen). She still sleeps with me and I wouldn't have it any other way. She will snuggle with her Daddy, but she waits for Mommy to get in bed to go to sleep. David and I tease her and go back and forth saying "My Baby". She laughs, but ultimately says, "Momma's baby." She wants her jammies off to go to sleep, then she either snuggles next to me or she'll crawl right up on my chest, and I rock her to sleep. It is so precious. Sometimes during the night, I will hear her squirming. When I look over at her, she will peek open her eyes and give me a little smile. When I wake up, she is laying right behind me snuggled to me, I sneak out of bed so I don't wake her. Then it starts all over.
Here are some of the other things I get to hear from Jenna during the day:
Please Momma?
MOM (a million times)
Taint too (thank you)
Brothers NOW!
My spot
Mommy's Pop!
Kitty Cat
Gucky (Lucky, our Dog)
Song, Momma!
Gink (Drink)
NO Mommy!
Don't!
Stop It!
Quit!
I know this stage we'll pass, but I love every minute of it. As I pull up to Marie's in the morning, Jenna used to giggle and say, "Mree" (Marie), but now, she still giggles, but she says, "MY Mamah!" (my grandma). I guess, Jenna has had a little adjustment having to share Marie with Jacob and Paige. It is so funny! When I drop Jenna off, she runs over to snuggle Marie, and says "Bye Mommy." It melts my heart to see her snuggle Marie and know, she gets to be Marie's little buddy for the next 8 hours. My baby turns two in a month, and yes, I will cry.