Lost and Found

When Mia started sleeping in her big-girl bed, Jeff and I worried that she'd get up during the night and wander around. We took to latching the toddler gates at the top of the stairs so that she couldn't take a wrong turn and tumble downward. To our relief, this has not been an issue. Mia is such a sound sleeper that most of the time we have to wake her up to get ready for school. Her afternoon nap can sometimes run from 3 pm to 6 pm. On those occasions when Mia wakes up on her own, she usually calls for Mom or Dad rather than getting out of bed.
But, the times they are a changin'. In the past several weeks, Mia has surprised us by taking a short nap and getting up on her own. Imagine me sitting in my office, working, when I hear the sound of little feet running down the hallway. Mia bursts into my office saying with glee, "I found you!!!" She then stamps her feet and laughs as if she'd just prevailed in a game of hide and seek. The other day during her scheduled naptime she ran down to the kitchen and startled the housekeeper by yelling, "I found you!!!" While I'd rather she continued those lovely long naps, it is pretty adorable to be greeted by my gleeful little diaper-clad gal.