Halle has asked me about being able to join dance class
since she was old enough to know there were such things as ballet classes. She
has danced to movies, radios, and TV commercials since she was a toddler. It
hasn’t stopped yet. I refer to her as my “delicate flower”. She has the
capability to play sports such as baseball. She throws footballs with Garrick
and Isaiah. However her heart is in dance. She is thrilled that I said she
doesn’t have to play baseball and can finally dance. Joy just radiates from
her.
Her nickname “delicate flower” comes from her sweet yet
sensitive personality. She is my cautious, careful, and emotional little girl.
Hhmm, does she get it from me? LOL
She has surprised me the last few nights. She hasn’t woken
up at night the last week. She sleeps in her own room but if she wakes in the
middle of the night she tends to feel scared and asks me to come tuck her in.
She has been waking up proud of herself saying “mommy, I didn’t even need you
last night. I woke up but I just rolled over and went back to sleep”. I’m sure
that her longer days at school this year have a part to play in this. But even
so, I tell her how proud I am.
Our nighttime routine is to brush teeth, read a book, and
then I tuck her in to bed. At this point, I sit on the side of her bed for two
minutes. Just to relax her and let her drift off. It used to be five minutes.
It began when we first moved out of my mother’s house. Due to space and so many
people who spoil her, she became used to sleeping with someone. When I started “boot
camp” in our new place to teach her to sleep alone, this was the compromise. I
don’t miss those tough days in the beginning. But I fought through it all and
we made leaps in progress.
I’ve been telling Halle that soon she won’t get even two
minutes of me in her room at bed time. I’m going to have a new baby that will
be quite demanding. She fortunately is old enough to understand this. She also
has a baby brother at her dad’s house so she’s familiar with the needs of a
small baby. So yesterday morning she says she wants to try going to bed by
herself after her book. I agreed willingly of course, but I was a little
doubtful. My delicate flower surprised me. She fell asleep and didn’t come to
my room until 7:00am to get ready for school. We were both very happy and quite
impressed.
My delicate flower/ tiny dancer/ baby girl is a big and
brave little woman.
