May 9, 2021

Cora has become enamored with baby dolls. She has two baby dolls now, Diggy and Lili. She cuddles them, she sings to them, and she tucks them into bed. Often, I will be having a conversation with Peter or Annie and Cora will say “SHHHH!!” from the other room. Usually she will have to repeat the “SHHHH!” several times before we notice.

“My baby is sleeping!” she will say in a loud whisper. “Be quiet!”

“Ok!” I will whisper, and I will do my best to be respectful of her babies’ nap times, until I forget a few minutes later, and then get reprimanded with a loud “SHHHH!!” again.

Sometimes she sings lullabies to her babies – often originals but not always. She sings in a very quiet, sweet voice that is difficult to hear. Today she was rocking Diggy to sleep and singing to her softly. I recognized that she was singing an original song. After it finished, I asked, “Can you sing that lullaby again? It was very nice.”

“No, I’m singing a different lullaby,” she answered. “I’m singing rocket bye baby fifteen thousand times.” She switched to her sweet, soft voice and started on her arduous task. “Rocket bye baby, in the tree top…”

I’ve been there, I thought.