"It's a good thing you're cute!"

I say this a lot. Not only to my own child, but to any child I come into contact with whose behavior is less than desirable. Children, and adults, can get away with a whole lot because they are cute or do plenty of cute stuff that make us forget how rotten they can be sometimes. (Jenn, do you remember how Kate would be sitting on the couch and then when I sat down she would want my seat instead and scream until she got it, but then when it would rain she would disappear and we would find her outside dancing in her diaper? Stuff like that.)

Last night, Birdie was less than her normally stellar (and sleepy)self. Not truly horrid, but enough that I was pretty cranky this morning. To make up for it, however, she seemed to be especially cute today. Every time I turned around she was doing something or looking particularly adorable. Like after her shower today, her hair was especially fuzzy. She is in that awkward old-hair-falling-out-and-new-hair-coming-in phase so it can get a little feathery. It is a little hard to see in the photo but, trust me, it is priceless.

Then, I asked Joe to hold her for a few minutes while I got some laundry going before our daily walk. She was all dressed and ready to go just waiting for me to get my stuff going. After about 2 minutes Joe was laughing and I came to see the big joke. In no time flat my little bird had fallen fast asleep-- sitting straight up. I guess all of that staying up at night left her tuckered out this morning. (Or it could have been Dad's soothing bouncing mixed with the tedious computer activities he was doing.)

Later in the afternoon I put her down to play with her stuffed friends that hang from her play mat. She always seems to like them, but today she was OVERJOYED by her little frog, turtle, and fish. She was squealing (not quite laughing yet) and smiling like crazy. I'm not sure I have ever seen her kick her legs and pump her arms quite so hard and fast. That blurry image on the bottom right is her hand!

And if she was not cute enough, I had her taking part in her daily tummy time activities while I cleaned up and I noticed that she was very quiet all of the sudden. Again, she must have been making up for all of the sleep she missed last night.

It is stuff like this, moments as adorable as these, that help us as moms get through the late nights, crying fits, and other not-so-joyous moments of being a parent. Sometimes all we can do is shake our heads and say: "It's a good thing you're cute!" And they can be SO cute.