she's definitely listening

A few weeks ago, as I was rocking Eden and singing to her, I realized I needed to change the words to the song.

I was singing Rock-a-bye Baby and had included the new last verse Graham and I had thought up ...

when the bough breaks the cradle will fall,
and Daddy will catch you, Eden and all.

We know it's not perfect, but better than a baby falling to the ground. The only problem was that each time I'd sing Daddy she'd sit up, point out of the room, and say da-da. So, I had to start singing "Mommy will catch you ..."

Saturday night, Eden was having trouble falling asleep so it occurred to me, "Why not tell her what she should do while I'm singing?" Couldn't hurt to try, right?

So, I was singing Lullaby (don't know any of the other words), and I just went with it ...

Lullaby, and good night
Go to sleep little Eden.
Close your eyes, say night-night ...

Then, I heard a tired little voice whimpering through her paci -- ni', ni'

Really?

So, I kept going. And, this time I craned my head around a bit to see her face while I sang. Yep, the next time I got to "close your eyes, say night-night" I saw her sqeeze her eyes tight and she let out a little ni'-ni'. In the rest of the song, I decide to tell her that Mommy and Daddy loved her and that Teddy and Lucy were waiting for her in her bed.

Tonight, she rested her head on my shoulder again as I started to sing Lullaby, and again she let out a little "ni-ni" each time I got to that part of the song. So adorable. Of course, I only go to sing it twice tonight before she sat up and started dancing and saying na-na-na-na -- her cue for "Please sing Elmo's song, Mommy," her new favorite.

This has reinforced my desire to sing good things to her and to keep telling her *secrets* -- my latest kick of telling her sweet things about herself by whispering them in her ear. I just have to keep remembering to do it because she's definitely listening.

Eden's Mommy