Yesterday was lovely; the air was fresh and the sun was bright. I put Elisabeth down for a nap in the late morning and opened the window next to her. Then I turned on her lullaby music {thank you Marilyn} and gently closed the door.
A few hours later I heard happy squeals coming from the bedroom that she shares with her sisters; she was awake. As I went to get her out of bed I thought back to a post that I wrote last fall titled, A Story About A Cradle. In that post I discussed the fact that Elisabeth was about to outgrow her cradle and that we were making preparations to transition her into the crib.
Confession: It's been nearly 5 months since then and she still sleeps in the cradle.
'Why?' you ask? Because Elisabeth loves her cradle; it's comfortable, it's familiar. A look of contentment always spreads across her face when we tuck her in to bed. And while I agree that the time to advance her to the crib is long overdue, it's just been so easy to put it off.
You see, Elisabeth is still very much a baby. She doesn't walk or crawl. She doesn't chew food or even hold her own bottle. We often forget just where she should be at {developmentally} because we are so comfortable with who she is.
Last night we took the girls to the park to eat dinner and play. While there we saw some friends that had a baby born the exact same day as Elisabeth. What a wake up call! We watched her climb all over the jungle gym, play with her siblings, and run away from her Dad when it was time to go home.
I wonder what Elisabeth would be like if it hadn't been for that one little problem? One little blockage in one little passageway in her brain. So much damage from one little problem.
I try to imagine her running and playing and exploring. Would she have walked early like Lorelai? Would she have spoken in full sentences at 17 months like Alexandra? What would her potential have been?
But then I see who she is and all she has overcome and those thoughts quickly fade away. I feel my heart burst with pride at the very sight of her. She is the greatest source of joy to our family. A small piece of heaven living in our home.....sleeping in that little cradle. Lucky, lucky us.
{Coming Soon: Elisabeth's move to the big girl crib.}
