The Singer

It was 8:10 pm. I had just sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, curious to see who would win an Oscar this year. As I began to watch, I heard a tiny, little voice coming from down the hall. I muted the TV and listened. It was Annabelle. She was singing, "Zack-kay-is, you come down....goin...house....a-day (Zacchaeus, you come down! For I'm goin' to your house today)." She sang those two lines, over and over and over and over again. She, Jacob and I sang that song earlier in the week when we read the Bible story about Zacchaeus. I don't know what made her think of it while she was lying in bed, but she obviously couldn't get it out of her head. She had been in bed for about 40 minutes before I heard her singing. I listened for a couple more minutes thinking she would quiet down and go to sleep. Nope. Heath thought she sounded so cute, he had to walk back to her bedroom to see her. I walked back with him. I sang the song with Annabelle, the whole song, not just the last two lines. Then, Heath and I kissed her goodnight once more and closed her door. Annabelle continued to sing until just after 10:00 pm.

I guess she was full of energy and couldn't sleep. It had been a fun day. After church, where she got plenty of playground time, we went to a party at McDonald's. It was her friend, Finley's, 2nd birthday. All the kids played their little hearts out. Annabelle climbed right up to the top of the play area with the big kids. I was a little nervous at first, but she had a GREAT time. She stopped playing for a few short minutes -- just long enough to drink a container of caramel sauce and eat a few apple slices along with one chicken nugget. She then quickly devoured a cupcake and went back to playing.

When bedtime came, she went to bed willingly. She was showing all the "sleepy" signs (rubbing her eyes, becoming a drama queen, etc...) but apparently, she decided she wasn't quite ready to head off to dreamland. It was the perfect time for a little vocal practice.

She's been singing more and more lately. A couple of her favorites are Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the alphabet song. She gives concerts on occasion...if you ask her nicely.

Annabelle still enjoys her naps and usually doesn't give me any trouble when it's time to go to bed. Today, she came out of her room a couple times during naptime, but happily went back to bed and soon fell fast asleep. She and Jacob are both asleep right now. When Jacob takes a nap, he typically wakes up before his sister. But, on the days when Annabelle is the first to awaken, she makes sure her brother gets up with her. One day last week, I didn't even realize Annabelle was awake until I heard laughter coming from Jacob's room. She had jumped up onto his bed, woke him up and the two of them were happily playing together.

They played in Jacob's room for a few minutes, then both of them headed to the "elevator" with an armload of toys. Naptime was officially over. On to another adventurous trip!!