Tonight as I put Teben down to sleep, I had the most amazing moment that I want to be able to remember forever.
I sat in my rocking chair with Teben in my arms, giving him his bottle. The lights were down, the diffuser was humming quietly while it gently dispersed the calming scent of lavender into the air, and Teben's eyes were slowly starting to get heavy. Everything was perfectly set for sleep. Everything pointed to it being another typical night of Teben falling asleep while finishing off his bottle. But then, it just changed. All of the sudden Teben was looking right into my eyes. And I looked right back into his. And then his adorable little dimpled pointer finger, which seems to be constantly pointed straight out lately for discovery, came up slowly and found it's way gently into my nostrils over and over again. He likes to do that for some reason and I personally find it absolutely darling. This continued on for a few minutes, him staring into my eyes and exploring my nose. My heart was bursting with love for this beautiful curious little boy, and pretty soon I had to give him the biggest smile.
Once he saw me smile, that was it. Drinking his bottle was a thing of the past and he let out a perfect little giggle. And then another. And another. He was laughing so hard! He got me giggling too so there we sat, staring at each other laughing when he should have been going to sleep and I should have been encouraging him to drift off to sleep. But instead I encouraged the moment. And I'm so glad I did. Because I got to spend about 5 perfect minutes laughing with a perfect little boy in a perfect moment that was only for him and me.
I love my sweet little boy more than anything in the world. He has my whole heart wrapped around his tiny, nostril probing little finger.
Did Teben go to sleep on time tonight? No. Did he have a hard time falling to sleep once he was put in his crib? Yes. Is he normally asleep before he even gets in his crib? Yep. Do I regret it even for a second? Nope!
I cherish every night that I get to put that sweet boy to bed. But especially, I cherish the moment I had with him tonight.
