There are so many things I look forward to about being a mom. A lot of them consist of the big life events every child should have. First day of school, learning to ride a bike, losing their first tooth. But I really, really…like Christmas-Eve-anticipation-butterflies-in-my-stomach…look forward to the everyday stuff of motherhood.

Waking up to a child’s laughter.

Now, from what I understand from other moms, this may be a rare occurrence, especially in the baby stage. However, in our house, where my husband still happily watches Saturday morning cartoons with me and makes my stomach hurt from laughter multiple times a day, I’m thinking that the semi-regular occurrence of early morning laughter is an appropriate expectation.

Not just the kind where I get to kiss those wonderfully chubby cheeks and blow raspberries on a soft full belly. I’m talking about the kind where the kid hasn’t quite mastered the concept of a “pucker” yet and comes at you, mouth wide open and slobbery. Fantastic!

I think we’ve all seen a YouTube video of some kind where a little one has found entrainment in the simplest everyday item. Pots and pans, cardboard boxes, Tupperware lids. In a child’s mind, these are all fascinating tools of the imagination. I have a feeling that, in the early years of parenthood, a lot of our evenings will be spent happily handing (safe, appropriate) objects to our child just to see what they will do with them. Although my brother once gave my mom a black eye with a toy hammer, so you never know.

The epic stories and events I would play out on the playground and backyards of friends and family will stay with me forever. I have vivid memories of running a very profitable “restaurant” in my grandparent’s back yard, serving mud pies in every flavor, and my Grandpa play-eating items off an insane menu. At the private Christian school I went to K-6th grade, the other kids and I wouldn’t limit ourselves to just one sandcastle. We filled the entire sandbox with a sand-city complete at one point with something resembling the Sphinx. The Little Mermaid will always have a special place in my heart. I spent hours in friend’s swimming pools perfecting my mermaid kick (you know, flopping your feet up and down in unison, like a tail). The Ninja Turtles are the same way for Josh. He still knows all the words to the theme song.

Watching a child try a new food is basically a shoe-in on America’s Funniest Home Videos. The reactions are endless. Pure shock, disgust, or elation. My mom once told me about the first time she let my try one of those chocolate Jello pudding cups. She gave me a bite, then took a bite for herself, but I liked my bite so much that I physically tried to reach into her mouth to take her bite too! Proof that my love of chocolate has been life long. Along the same lines, I look forward to the fun things you can do with kid’s food. I once witnessed a friend quiz her son on his sandwich preferences. “PB&J, or peanut butter and honey? Star shaped, or spaceship shaped?” He chose honey and spaceship, and mom promptly opened a drawer containing a variety of cookie cutter shapes to remove his sandwich crust with. Fun!

I was a genius with creative spelling techniques when I was young. I came up with the most amazing combinations of letters while I was learning to read and write. One of my favorites was when I decided to leave a sweet note for my parents letting them know they had been on my mind. Scrawled across the paper in my chicken scratch were the words “Im theeking aboot you.” My mom thought it was so sweet and hilarious that she later had my words engraved on a bracelet for me.

Big puffy diapered butts, small soft hands that fit snugly in mine, teeny-tiny onsies, little-league and ballet class, amazement at the world in general. Yep, looking forward to it.