Shots and Snuggles

yesterday, aria had a dr's appointment, which is quite normal for children her age; however, i had not mentally and emotionally prepared myself for the shots she was going to get. see, aria getting shots is much more traumatic for me than it is for her. i have heard it's like this for many other moms as well. see, after a few hours of sleeping it off and tylenol to get her fever down, aria has forgotten all about those shots, except for the annoying bandaids on her legs. i still have the memories of having to hold her down while she's screaming in pain. (i'm incredibly sad just thinking about it.) and while the thought of allowing my child to go through such pain, while i stand there and watch makes me feel like a bad mommy, i know that i'm actually being a good mommy by giving her these vaccines, so that she won't get sick later on. i still feel horrible about the tears, but she - remarkably enough - doesn't hate me for it. in fact, as soon as i pick her up, she holds on to me for dear life and doesn't let go, which - as i have mentioned in a previous post - is quite uncommon for her.

when we got home, we spent lots of time snuggling and i massaged her legs while she whimpered herself to sleep. 3 hours later, she woke up happy and energetic, just like the aria we all know and love :) but a remarkable thing happened - at least, remarkable for me. when i went to pick her up after playing, she reached out her little arms as if to say, "hold me please! i love you!" and that just made my little heart happy. it was the first time she had done anything like that - raising her little arms to show me that she loved me...*happy sigh* i know some babies are quite affectionate from the get-go, but aria really isn't that way; she'd much rather roll around on the floor with her giraffe than snuggle in our arms, but that makes me appreciate those little moments so much more.

sorry this post has been so rambling and - to some of you - pointless, but i never said EVERY post would be incredible interesting :) these are just the things i want to record to remember later on - the little moments that warm my heart and make the looooooooong nights all worth it :)