Remembering This Age

Sometimes I take pictures or videos of every day things that we do because they are the things that I want to always remember about my kids. Sometimes Maya does the cutest things and I just want to capture it some how and always be able to look back on it. Maybe it's my way of trying to hold onto something that she will inevitably grow out of. Who knows. I have been singing Maya a melody of songs every night since she was a newborn. They mostly comprised of the same two or three songs strung together that I would sing or hum to her. There was one song that became her particular favourite out of the montage. When she was about eighteen months old she surprised me and started singing along with me one night. She knew every single word and I was blown away by the fact that she really was listening to me every night and absorbing it all. Now it has become our night time routine where we sing together after story time. It is the freaking cutest when she sings. Her off-key, toddler style speech melts my heart. Every. Single. Time.

Maya has also started singing along to songs with her Daddy. The usual is twinkle twinkle little star. So one night I tried to get it on cameral when Chris was putting her to bed. She was smart and figured out what I was trying to do and kept saying, "Bye bye Mama!", and shooing me out of the room.  Then Chris put the camera in the room when she wasn't looking and got a recording of her singing her favourite song with me.

Check out this absolute cuteness and I dare you to tell me that it isn't the sweetest thing you have ever heard.

I always want to remember this age with Maya. It has the most precious moments!

The Sounds Of Our Childhood

When my babies are sleeping, I sneak into their rooms and watch them as they lay in their usual positions - Nolan with his thumb in his mouth, and Maya with her arm wrapped around her bear. Every time I see Maya with her tiny arm around Teddy I feel like I am going to die from cuteness overload. I always tell Chris I want to etch that image into my brain permanently so that I can always remember just how small and precious she was. Then one night, about three weeks ago, I actually took pictures of them while they slept. I had decided that I wanted to be able to look back on these images and forever remember how precious it was having two sleeping babies under our roof.  After all, these are the kinds of moments that we will cherish the most when looking back on this time. 

Aside from the sappy mommy moment to reflect on such things, it also brought back memories of when I was just a young girl. I'll explain what I mean. As I left Maya's room that night, my foot hit the floor board right at the foot of her door in the hallway and it creaked it's usual creak when I leave her room at night. It's the same creak that Maya hears in the morning when I am about to come into her room and greet her.  She often calls my name when she wakes up and when she hears that creek she stops and waits in anticipation because she knows I am coming.  When I was a little kid I remember similar noises that were familiar in my parents' household - the creaking of the kitchen cupboards the never got oiled; the sound of popcorn popping (followed by the theme to Cheers on the TV) when my Mom would sit down and take a break after bed time; the sound of my Dad lightly coughing (announcing that he was home from his shift at work); the way the back door slammed when someone left the house. All of these noises were just every day parts of the household routine. They were monotonous, trivial, insignificant, and yet comforting in their predictability and familiarity.  They were the sounds of home. 

I wonder if Maya lays in bed at night and is comforted by our household sounds. The sounds of us living. I wonder if she will hear certain noises some day, only to be reminded of the security and safety of her childhood. I hope one day she does.