This picture has nothing to do with the midnight wake up call, but it shows my happy girl so I wanted to post it. :)
Leeza is a WONDERFUL sleeper. As long as I have had custody of her (almost 9 months now), she has NEVER woken up during the night crying. We've had some wicked thunderstorms that shook the house, but Leeza never stirs. She is one sleeping beauty that girl!
So, imagine my suprise when I was awakened from a very sound sleep at midnight with the distressing sounds of my baby girl crying. My bionic ears picked it up, while of course Daddy slept on. :) I ran into her room, and scooped her up.
She wrapped her lil arms around my neck and buried her head in my neck, and crying ceased immediately. My heart swelled as I hugged my sweet baby girl.
Why is this such a big deal? Clearly, she wasn't hurt, she was fine, maybe she had a bad dream. The big deal was that she totally and completely relaxed in my arms and nestled into her mommy and gave herself to me to be comforted. I think I've mentioned before that although Leeza always loved to be held, and loved to be carried, I just didn't think she was the "cuddly" type. She didn't want to sit in my lap and rock, or read too many books-she was too busy. However...as time went on, I began to notice subtle changes in her.
Recently, whenever she bumps her head, or arm, her foot, or whatever, she immediately runs to me and wants me to kiss it (so sweet!) and when she kisses me, she grabs my face with both sides of her hands and just grabs me toward her and gives me the sweetest, most heartfelt kiss. It's been a process to watch her become a more and more affectionate and loving child and it's been beautiful to watch.
It does break my heart to think that giving and receiving affection is indeed a learned behavior, and I wish I had been her teacher from September 5, 2007, the day she was born. Thinking of her before we knew her, although she was certainly well taken care of and loved by the baby house staff, still makes me sad. We had to wait almost 11 months later to meet our beautiful angel-but then again-it's been a wonderful transformation to witness first hand.
My sweet baby girl KNOWS she is loved, and she is learning to SHOW her love back to us-no holds barred. It makes being woken up from a very sound sleep a blessing instead of an inconvenience.
So..why did Leeza wake up at midnight, crying for her momma?
I think it freaked her out too-but she had to pee!! Yes-Leeza Peeza's body must be learning that it can wake up and she can go potty-and it must have freaked her out! After I took her to the potty, and hugged her some more, I put her back in bed with her elephant, her soska, and her blanket, with joy in my heart that my baby girl knows she's loved. And, who knows, maybe someday soon the pullups at night time won't be necessary anymore-but I am not sure that I will ALWAYS feel such joy at being woken up from my peaceful slumber, so I am all for her building some stronger bladder control before we go down this road. :)
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13 comments:
Tears in my eyes. I have had so many lately.
What a beautiful moment for you and Leeza. These are the things I want to talk about in my book. The subtleness of it all. You just thought she wasn't a cuddly child, however, had you not persisted and just accepted it as part of who she was, she may have never developed that part of her and in my opinion it is a very crutial part.
No, not everyone is cuddly and affectionate and the are perfectly "normal" people, but the fact that she didn't have it because she didn't know it, because she learned to demonstrate these behaviors show that she needed to find that part of her. It was clearly something she was missing because of her life beginnings.
We are so blessed to have these incredible children in our lives who keep trusting us, loving us and keep us growing with them.
Beautiful........now back to Edward.
So sweet Susan! Yes I can relate to the "wonderfulness" of those hugs and kisses. It is the little moments like that to treasure forever in your heart. So glad you had one last night! We have always comforted Lindsay when she tumbled down or hurt herself in any way. At first she didn't like it much and would push away. Sometimes she still will get hurt and when I head towards her she says no mommy, no Mommy! More often now she pretends to be hurt and will just lay down on the floor and say help Mommy with her little arm outstretched and a smirk on her face! Such a little actress. So glad she will let us rock & cuddle her now but it is a process for sure!
What a sweet little angel. Your heart must be swelling (mine is). She's obviously modeling herself after you, Joe and Sean. You've given her so much and she's taking it all in. Nothing can be more beautiful.
oooo what a beautiful story! You don't have anything to worry about - Leeza is developing so beautifully and it is all thanks to the 24/7 work you put in with her. It is working! And as for waking up because she has to pee - AWESOME!!!!!!!! WOW WOW WOW WOW. Big congrats!
Aw, that is such a sweet story! Yay for Leeza, and yay for you for the wonderful bond that has been created between the two of you. Heart deep attachment in the making! I loved that she nestled right into you. I can just picture the sleepy perfect moment.
And good for her for knowing she has to go potty!
Kristan made me laugh! Funny girl. :-)
Sniff, sniff, sniff. I just continue to be so dang happy for you! Okay, so much to catch up on. Where to start?! First of all, I love that she loves all things Elmo, and I love how she says "Melmo." I also love her totally stubborn self when you were in her face trying to get her to point out her Elmos panties. Totally cute to hear her say "no", and hey, it's never too early to decide not to show someone else your undies. HA! The video of her watching sesamestreet.org was hilarious! I love how she starts bopping to the song! Her personality is AMAZING. The accompanying pics are all great, but I think my fave is when she has the mouse to her ear like a cell phone. SOOOOO her mama's daughter. HA!
And, what about little miss mermaid?! She is doing so amazing with her swimming!!! It sure seems that it is a worthy investment, especially seeing her blow those bubbles in the tub. It seems so natural to her! I love that she struts out to meet her instructor, now.
I think my total fave, though, might be the video of Sean and Leeza on the skateboard. I saw flickers of his home boys in the background, and the fact that he will drop everything with his homeys to hang with his little sis -- IN FRONT OF THEM -- is what REALLY brings tears to my eyes. I am just so happy that he is loving on his little sis so much!! Geez, as I'm typing this, I'm getting all misty-eyed again, because I am just so happy that things have turned out exactly as you deserved. You never lost the faith, you were the rock for the rest of us, and I am truly so thankful that Leeza made her way to the best home ever!
Thank you for continuing to share all of these amazing moments. I will never grow tired of reading about your beautiful family, and I always feel warm and fuzzy after your posts (even the ones about the potty -- ha!)
What a beautiful post, Susan! It really does melt your heart when our little ones start showing that kind of affection, doesn't it? Dylan just recently started saying "Amo Mami" ("Love Mama") and it just make me want to cry tears of joy every time he puts his head on my shoulder and says it. Super, super cute!
PS- I love that you continued calling pacifiers "soskas"...we did too!
what a WONDERFUL story and i am so so happy for you to have had such a blessed night.... what an incredible moment for you both... kuddos to you for putting her back in bed! i think I would have pushed the moment into a full night snuggle just to keep the moment from not ending :)
while i hope you can continue with your wonderful sleeping patterns, i am secretly hoping for you both it happens again every once in a while and very much look forward to the post of a day time "let go of it all mommy (vs. calgon) take me away" moment.... :)
You are an awesome mommy. What a beautiful moment. There is more to come. :)
A blessing indeed! Beautiful story, thanks so much for sharing such a touching moment with your daughter.
That is incredibly sweet. What a wonderful moment for mommy and daughter. It took Josh a longgggg time after coming home, probably more than a year, to want to cuddle with me. It is the best feeling to be wanted and needed by our children!
Ohhhhh,how sweet!!!!
What a great reason to be awake at midnight:)
1. I can't believe Leeza woke up because she had to potty. Wow!!
2. You are an amazing momma & Leeza knows it.
3. It breaks my heart, too, that our kiddos had to go through so much before joining our families :(. AS I tell Ben, God has a plan for your life. All of it.
4. I can't keep from crying, this post is awesome.
Hugs to you all!!
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