The Princess Sleeps

9 a.m. Saturday morning, and the Sophia is down for her first nap of the day. It used to be we were barely waking up at 9 a.m., but those days are over. Avelino took Sasha out for her much-loved weekend morning walk, and I clean the kitchen and start a jalapeno-egg bake, all of which Sophia watches from her playpen.

She's walking now. Not well, and not for long, but she'd much rather be upright most of the time than crawling around. At Target yesterday, she decided she'd had enough of her cart seat when I was in the books section. This happened last time we were at Target, which is how I broke down and bought the newest Sue Miller hardcover (doesn't fit in a purse) because it was there and I knew I'd like it and it didn't look like we were going to be there much longer. This time, no book; the three books I could grab the quickest were unappealing because (a) it seemed depressing, (b) I didn't like the prose I turned to at random, or (c) it seemed like too much of a "chick" book.

So she grabbed my finger and we walked slowly through the aisles. She peered solemnly up into people's eyes as we passed, then would look back down, focused as she was on this new walking situation. She looked over to her right and tentatively pulled open a shiny blue book at baby-level, but she's a good girl; I said no, and thanked her when she closed it. Then - Papa! She squealed in delight and pulled away from me, holding her hands up and close to her chest and burbling to herself as she toddled quickly up the CD aisle toward her father.

Avelino and Sasha come home. Sasha bursts in and heads straight for her water dish, and then partrols the kitchen for any crumbs that might have escaped her last night. This is our chance to finish up what morning rituals we can with Sophia quietly sleeping on a blanket the living room floor. Sasha tiptoes gingerly to the edge of the blanket -- she is so careful about everything related to Sophia -- and sniffs in her direction. No, better to go back to the kitchen for any possible treats. And Sophia sleeps.