This little angel baby

Friday, December 7:  Dylan and Kelly were invited to a friend's birthday party tonight, so I came over to take care of this baby. Aidan and Brendan were already tucked in bed and never knew I was at their house! I could hear those little boys in their room doing a little bit of "talking" before they finally went to sleep.

Erin was sleeping when Dylan and Kelly left the house at 7:50. They warned me that she has an innate sense of when her mama is NOT home and they said she would probably wake up. She did not prove them wrong! I listened for a few minutes, but by about 8:05 I retrieved her from their bed and brought her out to the main room.

 Erin is almost six months now (just 11 more days). She and I have not spent a great deal of time together, one-on-one, although she regularly observes me when I am dropping one or the other of the boys off home. This is her "fussy" time of night, so I was prepared for ... fussing! We walked around and talked things through a little bit, Erin and I.

 I had my phone with me, so I played some very pretty music and we did a little bit of singing too. At one point, I put Erin on the floor and we did exercises to the beat of the music. Arms up, arms down-down-down, legs up-up-up, legs D-O-W-N ... she enjoyed this very much. 

 All of these pictures were taken in her little activity jump/play apparatus. The first two or three were her smiley little self. When Erin smiles, she involves her entire face--it is absolutely darling.

 Erin was pretty tired in a lot of these shots. We had done a lot of walking, talking, listening to the water run in the kitchen, reading of little books together, etc.

 Erin did some crying too, but I tried not to let that get me "down" and I reminded myself that I was doing everything I could possibly do to keep her comfortable and happy. Kelly had left me lots of milk to give her, we changed her diaper, we bounced on my lap ... and I prayed her parents would not be out until midnight.

 Happily, they returned at 10:30! Erin was very glad to see them! She just beamed when they came through the door.

 I gave Erin to Kelly immediately and she snuggled in and nursed happily and then just sat on Kelly's lap while we visited.

 I am so thankful for this little person. I don't know her very well yet, but I aim to! She is a gift.

Dear little angel baby ... you are precious.