Bedtime Ritual

Each night before bed things must go a certain way for our little princess. We begin with PJs and brushing her teeth, then we go into her room and she will yell "DADDY I YEED A BUNNY!!" and bury her head into my shoulder saying "I gotta hide!!" Daddy then "hop, hop, hops" Bunny right into her arms. Then we let her pick 2 books; 1 for mommy to read, and 1 for daddy to read. Her favorites right now are: "The Very Quiet Cricket," "Goodnight Moon," "Baby Dear," and "Llama Llama Red Pajama." We read our books and get into bed. Then she has to kiss and hug Mommy and Daddy at least 5 times each, which is followed by her insisting that we each kiss Bunny goodnight as well. Then she lays down, I pull the covers up and sing a song, while Adam rubs her back. Then Adam leaves and she then will say "Mommy rub my back a minute?" so I stay behind and rub her back a little longer before finally saying "Mommy loves you! Sweet Dreams." and out I go. This really happens almost exactly that way in that order each and every night, and most of the time we don't mind. In a way it's become family time, rather than Tori's bedtime. Sometimes I get frustrated. Some days have been so long and I'm tired, Adam's tired and we just want to go put her in the bed and leave and finally spend some much needed alone time together. I think everyone has those days with a 2 year old. But we do it for her, no matter how we feel. Mostly I do it for those precious moments before bed, sweet yawns, hugs, kisses, and lots of snuggle time. Nights like tonight are why I do it. Tonight after Adam had left and I was rubbing her back she told me the sweetest thing. It went like this:

Mommy: "Tori, Mommy loves you so much." 

Tori: "I luz you too mommy" 

Mommy: "how much?" 

Tori: "big" 

Mommy: "big??" 

Tori: "Yea just big mommy" 

Mommy: "I love you big too"

Tori: "I gotta kiss you mommy I just gotta kiss you."

Needless to say I picked her up and kissed her 5 extra times for the night. It's moments like these that I live for. Moments that even when I tell the story it cannot be understood unless you're on the receiving end. My little girl loves me big! For me one of the most awesome things in the world is to hear my baby tell me she loves me.

Tori with Bunny