4 AM Playtime

The last two nights Violet has been waking up in the middle of the night and instead of crying like she usually does, she requests to have playtime.  I have been humoring her (because she has been sick) and taking her out of her crib so we can both sit on the couch and watch the pictures change on our digital frame. Violet likes to tell me all the people she sees in the pictures and so the list begins: papa, baba, baby.....pause....papa, baba, baby.  Even though it's the middle of the night, a motherly pang of jealousy kicks in and I ask her, "what about mama?"  She smiles coyly and continues: baba, papa, baby....baba, papa, baby.  This kid is only a year old and she already knows how to manipulate me.  When she really wants to get me going, she points at the nanny when I ask her, "where is mama?"  Meanwhile everyone tells me she throws the word around like no tomorrow when I am not there.  After about ten minutes she begins to yawn and back to bed she goes.  It might sound crazy, but I kind of enjoyed these last two days where the two of us get to cuddle in the dark while looking at pictures that bring back happy memories of birthdays celebrations, apple picking, family holidays and vacations.  It feels cozy, sweet and makes me wish we could make smores in our non existent fireplace.