Happy Thanksgiving to all!

This is A's second thanksgiving feast in her life. We will be going over to my grandmother's house shortly to spend it with my extended family. My mother will be having thanksgiving at her house early on Sunday. We were supposed to be then going to Dave's father's house on Sunday for our third feast of the weekend. Those plans however fell through for a couple of reasons. Firstly I have been spotting a little. Old blood and not much.... but still scary. Also I have a terrible cold ( and now so does A) I also have a before mentioned back injury that has me still in pain, the combination has made my doc suggest that I stay close to home. As Dave's father is an hour drive away it seemed like a less than good idea to keep that particular dinner date.
Let me put some minds to rest with the spotting issue: While it is a big thing and not a good sign... it is also par for the course with my pregnancies. There is not a single pregnancy that has made it past the first trimester that I haven't been in the doc's office for spotting.... well for that matter the ones that ended in the first trimester I was there for bleeding too, just a lot more bleeding. So we are watching it and I am supposed to be on the couch resting.... well that translates into I am only just taking care of my daughter. The rest of the house is a shambles and it will stay that way for a little while so that this pregnancy can be given the best chance that I can give it. I guess that means that I won't be shopping all day tomorrow..... That makes TWO years in a row that I have missed out on Black Friday. Next year I will have two that will be in diapers and carseat.... ( sigh) perhaps I will have to adjust my entertainment activities from this point forward.
A woke up this morning very congested and hacking. Not fun. She is still a contented and easy going baby. She just is more cuddly.... ummm in what world is having the cutest baby on the face of the earth wanting to cuddle with you a bad thing... yeah I didn't think it existed either. I must say though that my daughter is extremely cuddly on any given day so to say she is more cuddly is saying a lot. I love that she is snuggly and cuddly. I adore that she leans in every few minutes for mommy to kiss her head. Being as mommy is me that makes for a really wonderful way to spend my time. I just wish that she were feeling better for all of it.
I read recently that the power of touch for a child who is ill is near to miraculous. In the article it was saying that a study had shown that children who were lovingly touched by their parents when they were ill were faster to recover from said illness. The article suggested curling up with the child in bed or snugging the child down into your lap to read to or watch television with her. It purposed that parents should spend as much time as possible caressing the child's head and hair. It also suggested that children who receive such treatment as part of the normal day will have a stronger immune system to begin with and will not be ill nearly so often as children who do not receive affection from their parents. So my snuggly little girl will never be turned away from a cuddle or snuggle in that name of her health. Not mind you that I ever needed a reason of any sort to cuddle the light of my life.
My Granny told me a few weeks ago that you can always tell the baby that is well loved. A never doubts that there is a cuddle or a kiss for her when she comes to mommy or to daddy. She is loved because she IS. She is snuggled be cause she is nearby. She is cuddled because ... well just because. My Gran stumbled upon the best compliment that she could ever give me as a mother. My child may not always look neat. She may not always behave like a perfect little angel. These things are part of growing up and also part of being a parent. My child will always be loved though. Loved through and through. She will always be dealt with lovingly and to know that it shows in her behavior or her trust of me, makes me feel incredible. I will screw up a lot of things as a parent, because just as my child is learning to become part of the human race I am learning to be a parent. Perfection is not something that I am looking for in my parenting. If so I would have disappointed myself a long time ago, and A is still very young. I will however consider myself a success if my children always know that they are loved. I can't ask that they know how much... because there is no way that they CAN know the extent. I just ask that they know that they are loved. Some day when they hold their own child.... they will look at me with a sense of awe and they will say to me.... " I never really knew! God mom I never knew!" That will be enough for me.
Now I gotta go because my little one is napping and in the interest of her health I have got to go curl myself around her.