Dear Eddie,
I just put you down for your last nap of our spring break together, and I am sad about it.
No really, I am.
You might think I am a horrible mother for saying this, but I dreaded spring break.
Oh, I needed the break from work badly, but the idea of staying home alone with you every day and not having a break gave me so much anxiety.
When you were born, the two of us were home alone together for almost three months.
It did not go well.
Daddy got laid off when you were four months old and stayed home with you for 17 months.
The days or hours that you and I had alone together were few. This semester we have had Monday and Wednesday evenings. They are usually hit and miss in the “going well” department.
So like I said, with spring break approaching? I was terrified of you.
And as I suspected, we started out sort of rocky, but as the break progressed? Something happened.
We found a flow.
Mornings became our favorite time together (yes, mom, you read that correctly).
Between 7:00 and 8:00 am every day, I would slowly wake to your chatter in the other room.
Even though I wanted to stay sleeping, knowing that you would have a big smile was a bigger pull than my pillow.
As I could hear you counting, I would wake the house up by starting coffee, opening blinds, and finding Handy Manny on Disney.
By the time I was spitting my toothpaste into the sink you would be calling, “Daaaeeee”. I would smirk knowing you forgot that it was not Daddy getting you up.
You would smile and point at all the items you had tossed from the crib.
You would chatter on about things only you knew as I turned off your nightlight and humidifier.
As the coffee percolated, you and I would mesh into each other on the couch for some Disney channel until you were ready to explore the world.
Sometime midweek, I taught you to finally say, “maaa maa!” although I had my doubts that you associated it with me and were not just mimicking what I was saying.
We had construction crews in and out this week. We had playdates. We had fun.
Our mornings were filled with books and trucks and Little People villages and trains.
And then this morning, after reading Where is the Green Sheep for the third time, I asked you “where is Eddie?”
You pointed at your chest and nodded while carefully pronouncing, “Eh-ee”.
I beamed with pride all the way from the tips of my toes, “That’s right!!! And I love Eddie! More than all the green sheep in the world!”
Then I cautiously asked, “And were is momma?”
You scrunched up that nose into your mischievous smile and pointed at me.
I was about to praise you for getting it right when you nodded with each syllable saying, “maa maa”.
Oh Eddie.
I couldn’t contain myself.
I grabbed you and hugged you so hard you said, “noooooo”.
So I tickled you instead.
We both shouted “MAA MAA, EH-EE!”” together over and over.
And fell over in a fit of ridiculous giggles.
I think Daddy is right. You and I? Are a lot alike.
That makes me happy.
Now I have a Goofball in Crime.
I love you to the moon and back.
With a drum on my head.
Love,
Maa Maa