Ohmer House. 7:32. I quietly walk into Mia's room and find her laying on her stomach lightly snoring. I start running my fingers along her spine encouraging her to wake up. When I was a kid I used to love it when my mom would do this. She called it "giving us chills". Mia slowly realizes she needs to open her eyes. I heard her crying last night. In the past I've gone to her with a cup of juice or brought her into bed with me. I don't do that anymore. Merely giving her a cup of juice would lead to a tantrum when I wouldn't take her out of bed and when I did bring her into bed with me she would turn it into a trampoline. I've learned to just let her cry it out.

Before she gets out of bed, she roots around her nest of blankets so she can find her favorite stuffed animal. "PJ" stands for pinky junior. PJ is a smaller version of a pink hedgehog my mom bought her at Hobby Lobby (Pinky Senior). Mia sets PJ on the kitchen table while she slowly eats her yogurt and drinks watered down orange juice. Still working on mastering the spoon and fork, she has vanilla yogurt smeared across the left side of her face. I lift her from her high chair, "bath time". This is our daily routine, first breakfast then bath. She's getting pretty good at taking off her pajamas, while transferring PJ from one hand to the other. Today's bath was thanfully uneventful. A direct contrast to last night when she tried to flush a roll of toilet paper, therefore flooding the bathroom.

I lay her down on the changing pad to get dressed and dab sunscreen on her face. She's going to school today, they often go on outdoor adventures so they ask that the kids come well spf'd. It's time to say goodbye. I say goodbye to Mia with a kiss, Mia says goodbye to PJ by placing him on the end table by the garage door. PJ always goes in the same spot, nestled between the lamp and her Melissa and Doug mailbox. She knows we will be here waiting for her.