Caught A Ball Today!

when we got inside the house,
she grabbed a pen and started drawing our play time this morning

For this year, I made a resolution to always play with Maia in the mornings before I leave for work. She has always been a morning kid (wakes up as early as 5am and never sleeps past 7am) since she learned to sleep straight through the night (so that was around 4 months if I recall correctly) and we thought it would be a wonderful idea to enjoy the morning sun with her. BUT...as most resolutions are, I was not able to keep it. I think it ran for a good one week and then I couldn't drag myself out of bed before 6am everyday after that. But I do get to do it with her at least 2-3x a week and I don't think she really minds me missing it some days. 

However, Tibs have been noticing that even on really good mornings (read: no tantrum incidence for at least an hour after waking) she would immediately go for our mobile phones just right after greeting us with a big cheery GOOD MORNING followed  by a kiss. 

"Just one Mommy. Puhleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase"  **insert puckered lips and twinkling eyes**

Yes, her negotiating skills have drastically improved the past few months. She can match that pleading tone with a really cute puckered look that even somebody who's had a rough night couldn't say no to. It's just too cute to ignore and heartbreaking to deny.

This has been going on for weeks now. A few days ago however Tibs was telling me he doesn't like how the little girl has been obsessing on the phone apps and would want us to take strolls in the morning again to break off the habit. And so we did. Yesterday, she was contented with just one round around our block. This morning she asked me to chase her around the rotonda and she squealed like there's no tomorrow every time I caught up with her. Then she took my hand and ushered me to walk back to our house already. 

"Gusto ko catch the ball Mommy. Yung ball ko na may scribble scribble kukunin ko lang. "

That ball has already deflated and was thrown already. But she was okay with using a different ball. She was just excited to play catch. So I threw. Guess what happened. She caught it! Caught it like a pro, she did! Oh man, was I happy? 

Maia is already 40 months old. You'd probably think there was nothing celebratory about her catching a ball. But you see, she's been struggling with this skill for months now. Each time she drops a ball, she gets really frustrated. I thought she's already given up trying. But today, no sir. She just had to catch it. 

I don't know if she learned that skill a long time ago and just wanted to show it off this morning. But that doesn't matter to me really. Each time I see a milestone, I always feel like I saw it first. My daughter makes me feel that way. She always manages to make me feel like it's okay to be gone during the day and work my a$s off because I will always get to be in the front seat when her milestones premieres.