Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Adventures in Motherhood, Chapter 2

We lie in bed, side by side in the dark. It's time to go to sleep, but I can see the exuberance and energy still shining in her eyes. She holds up a finger close to my face, and with a pleading look asks, "One?"

I'm dying to sleep, but I give in. "OK. One last time."

She scrambles into a flat-on-the-bed position and begins, "Say.....clock!" It sounds more like, "see cahk", but we understand each other. I echo, "Clock!" and tickle her tummy as she screams with laughter.

"Say...clock!" she says again when she regains control of herself. "Clock!" And more giggling, squealing and tickling ensue. Over and over, we say clock and laugh. Sometimes, she takes a very long pause after "Say"; I can see her bursting with the anticipation. Sometimes the anticipation gets the better of her. She dissolves into gales of laughter--without saying "clock" or me having to do anything.

Finally, I tell. "OK, enough. Time to sleep. Good night."

She takes my face in between her tiny hands and gives me a kiss. Then she settles down with a final sigh: "Fun."

We drift off to sleep.