I got Penny ready for bed tonight. Usually Dan does the bedtime routine, but tonight I got to. After all the hard stuff was done, in the dark quiet of her room, I sang to her a Raffi tune that's been in my head since I heard it Thursday afternoon when I picked her up from my mom's house (my mom still has all the old Raffi cassette tapes. Yes, I said cassette tapes. And a cassette player to play them with.)
All I really need
Is a song in my heart,
Food in my belly
And love in my family.
How true it is.
I have been so wrapped up in party planning this week that I haven't stopped long enough to get emotional. But tonight, I sure did.
As I laid her in her crib, already asleep from my peaceful swaying, I realized I had just held Penelope Jane for the last time before she is a big one-year-old.
I cried in gratitude, then carried on with the preparations.
Happy almost-birthday, little one.
