Night Time is the Right Time

After many months of ignoring the huge stack of cute animals in her room, Evelyn has taken to wanting as many as she can fit, into her bed, or around her bed. I think it's just so cute.

From left to right, you see Tilde, Peppermint (why she named a huge orange and yellow cat peppermint is beyond me), Lambchoppah, Jack (named after Grandpa),Papa Juan and then Pony. Let me say that she has named all of them but Tilde, I had that pig for her long before she came home from China. These are the guys that MUST be in place on her headboard at night. There is usually a few more in the bed with her, a tiny bat, Baby and Drew (another pig) are the usual bedfellows, but there can be minor changes in the line-up.I keep thinking that I could switch her out of the toddler bed, but quite frankly she still moves around too much and I often find her sleeping with her torso on the bed and her legs on the floor, sort of in a "I fell asleep while praying" pose.

It is my habit to check on her at night still, sometimes a few times a night. I think I do this, not because I am concerned with safety, but because seeing her asleep and still with that peaceful expression, never fails to lift my spirits and melt my heart. Even if I feel like I spent the day being the worst Mom on the planet, I can look at her sleeping face and know that it's alright, we're doing okay. I lived for so long wanting a child and needing to have one sleeping safely with me standing watch, that I sometimes can't believe, even after this long, that she is mine and won't disappear into the night. Besides, she is just about the cutest thing on the planet, all warm and sleepy with her head full of dreams.