The Princess Sleeps

Last night, as I was putting the Princess to bed, I was thinking about how precious our routine is. And also, how quickly it may change.

Some nights, the Princess gets a bath. I wash her. Make sure all her parts are clean. And then we play. The Princess has fun, little sea creature squirt toys, and, of course, a rubber ducky. She systematically picks up each toy, examines it thoroughly, twists it around in her hand, bangs it on the side of the tub, and then drops it out of the tub. The Princess does this with each toy, taking a break in between to splash heartily.

After wrapping her up in the cute hooded towels that we recieved for baby shower presents, we go into the nursery. There I have already laid out her diaper, jamies, lotion, and put her music on. We listen to soft lullaby music each night. The CD varies. Right now we have in A Daddy's Lullaby. I turn on her side lamp instead of the bright, overhead light, to create a soft, quiet mood.

The Princess and I get on the floor on a blanket, and I dry her off. Then I massage her tiny, precious body, rubbing in the natural moisterizers to soften her skin. This calms her down. I can see that the Princess anticipates the massage, and she relaxes as I massage her.

Then it is PJ time. Generally this is not the Princess's favorite part. She does not enjoy her hands messed with, so it is hard for me to put her clothes on. But I go as fast as I can, and we get through it.

After PJ's are on, Daddy reads Princess a story. It is a beautiful time for them together. They sit for a while and talk softly. The King reads one or two books, and always a story from the Bible. Then they pray together. There is nothing more special than a Daddy praying with and for his daughter. There is no doubting his love for her. I love to watch them from the doorway, but I usually use this time to get myself ready for bed.

The end of our evenings ends with nursing the Princess to sleep.
I will have more on this time of our night tomorrow.