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amen

prayer hands
recently, we've been praying with john before he goes to bed. nothing too elaborate - mommy or daddy or sometimes both will lead a prayer that he repeats with us. he folds his hands like a big boy when he prays - it's very very sweet.

even this morning as we got in the car, john looked at me and said, "prayer!" i think he mostly wanted to just make prayer hands, but we said a quick prayer to start the day nonetheless.

but the best was last night. as john and i sat in his rocking chair, snuggling before bed, he looked up at me and said, "prayer, mommy?" 

so we folded our hands and bowed our heads together. i began, "dear god."

"dear god," said john.

"thank you," i said.

"thank you," john repeated.

"for a wonderful day."

"for a wonderful day," came the echo.

"and thank you," i continued, but i didn't get it out of my mouth, because john sat bolt upright in my lap and hollered, "AMEN!"

what could i do but say, "amen?"

*   *   *

john is on some albuterol cough syrup right now that gets him a little amped up. sometimes in the night his little heart gets to racing and it freaks him out a little. later that night, as daddy and i were going to bed, i heard a very upset john crying in his room. i went in to just console him, and he fairly leapt into my arms. we snuggled for a while, and then he said, "mommy, sing."

now, lately, he hasn't wanted me to sing. i have a collection of 4-5 lullabyes that i've written just for him, and he says, "no," every time i start them. so i said, "john, what do you want me to sing?"

and he said, "sweet child." 'sweet child' is one of my favorites that i've written for him.

so i sang 'sweet child.' and then i sang 'sleep baby john.' and then i sang 'hey my little love.' and then i sang 'goodnight sweet baby.' and then i sang, 'hey little peanut (night night version).' and between each song, i asked if he was ready to go to bed. and he said no. and i asked if he wanted another song, and he said yes.

i had tears in my eyes as i sang. so precious ... and eventually (after a brief sojourn to mommy and daddy's bed so he could snuggle with us both) he sleepily muttered, "night night with kitty," and snuggled down with kitty in his crib and was out like a light.

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