Perfect bed time

We had the perfect bed time this evening.

Bath was pleasant. Mike showed her how to open and close a bracelet and she was fascinated and asked to see it again and again. When she was ready to get out of the bath, she said "ta ta," which means towel time. She hugged me over the side of the tub and started to climb out. Instead of waiting for Mike, tonight I picked her up wet and hugged her while he got the towel.

After some taunting to watch for him and tickling from Daddy, we left the bathroom and said good night to the toys, Christmas tree, kitchen, and Ellie kitty. Natalie waved and said bye. Once in her room, I brushed her hair and Natalie threw off her towel, as usual. As I put lotion on her back, she flipped through Where the Wild Things Are. I then made her dolly ask to have her hair brushed, and Natalie complied. She also gave dolly a kiss per request. She then enjoyed playing with the towel on her back, giggling and saying "ta" over and over.

Mike sneaked in the bed room and peeked over the edge of the bed to surprise Natalie. She collapsed into me squealing. Then Mike attacked her with tickles. As Mike put on her diaper and pjs (including tickling under her arms when she raised them up), I read Good Night Moon. During our reading, she said "mou" as always, but tonight, she said it before I finished the line. She also enjoyed showing us her foot and said "sa" when I mentioned the socks. Natalie helped turn the pages when asked, and for the first time made a sound like "pay."

We were going to read Where the Wild Things are as the finale for the evening, but Mike mentioned that we hadn't read Leo the Late Bloomer in a while, so we did that instead. When we got to the part where Leo's dad is hiding in the vines watching Leo, Natalie pointed him out to us before I asked where he was. She also enjoyed asking "What's that?" for her favorite parts of the pictures, including the snow elephant and the owl. She shook her head no that she didn't know where Leo was and no she didn't want me to tell her, but she was happy when I showed her anyway and touched her head with both hands. She was also excited when Leo finally bloomed. At the end of the story, Natalie closed the book.

We asked if it was time for bed, and she touched her head and gave me a big hug sucking her thumb. Mike gave her a kiss on the check as I held her, with her arm wrapped around my neck and shoulder. She may have even leaned in to give me a kiss before getting in the crib, but my kiss on her check got in the way.

Mike turned out the light as I placed her on her tummy and rubbed her back saying, "I love you. See you in the morning."