Devil in a Blue Dress

She awoke just twenty minutes before the alarm clock. Knowing that her response to my instructions to, "Go back to sleep," would be futile, I hoisted her from her crib, grabbed her blanket, and brought to our bed to share the last few sleepy minutes or our morning lying down.

When Ellie wakes up, she is ready to move. Today was no different, however, she chose to accommodate us with a false belief that we might get a few more minutes of sleep, by quietly turning on her side, facing me. She began to lovingly petting my forehead. Right as I was completely relaxed from her ginger touch, a tiny thumb completely invaded my exposed ear. She nearly pierced my brain!

"AAAAAAAARGH! I'm awake!"

The remainder of the morning was filled with fits of fury from our little tasmanian devil. Hot and cold performances of frustration and demands onto her parents to find her toys that she wanted to play with kept all of our tempers flaring. Her and our emotions subsided, just long enough for me to change her and dress her for her day at Grammy Sally's house. As I was putting on her socks and shoes, the gentle personality took over her again as she began to rub my stomach tenderly. After attending a baby shower for a friend this weekend, the concept of life from within has been amazing her.

"Baby in the belly?" she asked.
"No baby in my belly, honey. This is Daddy's beer belly," I told her.
She continued to caress my buddha, then stopped and looked up at me with her big innocent blue eyes and said with a reassuring nod, "Beer baby in Daddy's belly."
She then ducked her head down onto my stomach as if to hear something.
"Yes, sweetie, that's Daddy's beer baby."