And that was it. That was my quality time with my little girl who spends more awake time with day care personnel than she gets with her own parents.

Phooey.

I am somewhat ashamed to say that in those early weeks, I used to be relieved when she fell asleep because it meant that I could finally Get Things Done. Wash dishes. Sort laundry. Put things away. You know.

But now I relish the time in the evenings when we get to play. Normally, she'll take a short nap around 7:00 and then we go play under the Gymini and look up at the toys dangling above her. She bats at them, and then she laughs at the cute baby staring back at her from the mirror that is suspended there.

We also have "Tummy Time" where she lies on her tummy, and I try to get her to push up with her arms so that she strengthens them. She hasn't really enjoyed Tummy Time much in the past, but I think she's getting used to it. It's the only way she'll learn to crawl or roll over, so I know it's worth it. Plus, it's funny to touch her squishy little arm and think that there's a bicep somewhere in there.

But she was asleep, so I half-heartedly did some dishes and put some things away. And I did complete a very important task which was to sneak up and cut her nails while she was sleeping in the bouncy seat. This is my usual stealth mode. The fingers and toes are easily accessible, and she'll never miss the little pointy things that tend to slash us when she's flailing her arms about. Ha.

After about 45 minutes of her napping during my play time, I walked back into the room and she stirred. I decided to be Helpful, and I picked her up and considered putting her into her crib. I held her, talked to her, kissed her and again thought about putting her into the crib.

Ok. I WOKE HER UP.

I couldn't help it. She's so fun now, and she's growing up so quickly, and her laugh is unbelievable - it's magic to me, and I get only a few hours a day with her, and I don't want to just be a mom who runs in and out saying "hi" while I'm cooking meals and Getting Things Done and she grows up while I'm out of the room and I miss it. I've even given up some of my beloved sleep time (!) so I can do the chores after Colette's gone to bed - just so I have time to be with her.

Anyway, after breaking the sacred rule of "Don't Ever Ever Ever Wake A Sleeping Baby," I went and played with her in her room for over an hour. Kev came in, and he and I got so excited at something she did that we sort of yelled, and she burst into tears because we were so noisy.

Ok, so that's not so good. But we had a great time, and I will live with the much-despised clutter for another day. It's OK. Dust bunnies live forever, but babies grow up so fast.