Mampalahelo, or something like that

Oh Colin.... I cherish when the very end of the day brings time for us to be together in a quiet moment.

Tonight, we rocked in the rocking chair under a blanket, watched a little t.v. and I tried to explain the premise of American Idol (which I'd decided that I wasn't going to watch anymore but somehow tonight I was sucked in yet again... happens every year). I tried to teach you how to say the Malagasy word, "Mampalahelo" just because I thought it was sound so cute coming from you.

It did.

It sounded something like, "Manahelopala".

Close enough.

Nine years after returning from life in Madagascar, Mampalahelo is still said in our house all the time. It's just so fun to say! The thing is that it actually means "sadness" but it's said in reaction to all kinds of sadness. You could say it when something really sad happens but could also say it when, for example, you realize you're fresh out of cookies. Or, when you have to go to bed but don't want to, like tonight.

Mampalahelo!

Before finally taking you up to bed, we rocked and listened to Coldplay's "Till Kingdom Come", which I used to listen to a lot when I was pregnant with you. The song is on my phone and you love to play it and hear the story of how you lived in my belly when you were "teeny tiny" and listened to this song. It still seems to calm you.

Those nights spent listening to Coldplay while you grew in my belly both seem a lifetime ago and just yesterday.

Pregnant with Colin. By the way, did I really ever think I was "so big" during that pregnancy?!