*It's okay to cry when you start measuring your baby's age in months instead of weeks. *sniff*
"So, is he an easy baby?" she asked.
"Yes... oh, he is such a wonderful baby," was my reply.
But, then as I was driving home I started thinking, wait a minute... I'm thinking the standard definition of an easy baby would include things like sleeps well during the day... long stretches of silence through the night... can happily entertain himself when awake... patient... happy with a pacifier... quick nurser...
We have had easy babies before. But, Timothy is none of these things. He's certainly not a hard baby, but he wants to be held and cuddled at all times through the day and his tiny tummy still gets hungry every three hours - even through the night. So I started wondering, what is it about this sweet baby that makes my initial reaction one of 'yes... oh, he is such a wonderful baby'?
And, you know, I think it's because my perspective is entirely different this time. I've finally realized that time steals these days away so, so fast. With my other kids, time seemed as sluggish as... well... a slug maybe. But when little TK wakes up for the second time at night for his hour long feeding session I somehow internally know that this will not last forever. In fact, it won't even last very long. And this strangely gives me permission to enjoy it and to see through the fatigue to his tiny eyes and see that, oh, he is such a wonderful baby.
With beautiful eyelashes. Seriously. All three of my boys have super long eyelashes. (Good thing my sweet McKenzie is beautiful enough that she doesn't need them.)
He's just recently found his hands and entertains himself by watching them move in front of his face. Doesn't his little smile in this picture make you giggle? Hey! he thinks, There's that crazy thing again!
*Eye control is over-rated
Even so, Timothy is starting to succumb to social pressures and get his eyes aligned. When he's relaxed one of his eyes has generally drifted outwards from the other (exotropia, my ophthalmologist husband informs me) and it's been fun to watch him try to bring things into focus by over correcting and ending up looking like this.
*Son, this is Bacon
Brian has been happy to teach Timothy about the finer things in life
*Son, this is Life
McKenzie is quite sure Timothy does not really need to pay attention in scripture study because "He really probably still remembers Heavenly Father and Jesus. So anything we read he would just think, 'I already know this!' Plus, I think he sees angels in the lights, because you know how people say that God is, like, well, they describe God as being kind of, like, light?"
*Angels or not, he certainly is fascinated by lights
After seeing this picture, who else is thinking of Harry the mosquito?
Harry's friend: No! Harry, No! Don't look at the light!
Harry: I can't help it... It's so beautiful... *ZAP*
I might feel bad for Harry if I didn't dislike mosquitoes so intensely.
*Face-plant time
They call it tummy-time. And the kids think it's hilarious and cruel at the same time. "I don't *giggle, giggle* think he likes this, Mom *giggle, giggle*," Carson says as he watches Timothy grunt and struggle to pull his head up. I agree. "But, exercise is important... even for babies," I reply.
*Forks and Baby Eyes should never connect
After hearing intense giggling at the dinner table while we were setting the last of the food out, Brian and I looked over to see Timothy sitting on McKenzie's lap, holding a fork in one hand. It would have been a seriously cute picture, but safety won over cuteness and we quickly removed the safety hazard and explained that babies do not have control over their actions and that forks and eyes should be kept apart.
*Real Babies are way more fun than Baby Dolls
Oh sweet baby... I go back and forth between feeling so happy for you that you have so many people under one roof who love you, and feeling so sorry for you that you have so many people under one roof who love you.
*Snuggling Will Never Get Old
All of my other babies have rejected the idea of snuggling like this. But little Timothy was happy to snuggle on day one. And he still is.
I am in no hurry to see it end.
Any of it, really. My eyes feel a bit like they're opening under two pound weights, but I'll take it if it means I get to have this little guy around. Because, after all, he is such a wonderful baby.
this post makes me remember when I had my first. People would ask if she was good and yes was always my reply- though she refused to eat or sleep and was generally fussy. I was just happy to have her to I didn't know. I already feel time slipping away with my four day old. Sniff.
ReplyDeleteLove the snuggling picture, esp since I get to go tomorrow to spend another week snuggling with CL's baby. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written Linds. I love that he snuggles you. Timothy looks so sweet and I'm impressed that you were able to get a picture with Timothy next to Miles!
ReplyDeleteHe looks so much like Brian in these pictures! And I'm impressed with your pretty fingernails...mine don't even look like that on a good day!
ReplyDeleteI love the picture of him smiling at his hand! I kind of want to glare at people who say, "Is she a good baby?" At least your question was a bit more appropriately worded "easy." But still, it's like they expect you to want to return the baby if you didn't get a "good" or "easy" baby, or you're acknowledging some parenting fault because you have not yet convinced your baby to be "good" or "easy." And, I feel your exhaustion. At play group on Monday, I sat there staring into space, and confessed to another mom, "I'm so tired, I just want to cry." You have a better attitude than me. I'm now beyond tired, and I'm just grumpy all the time. I'll be done now. You get points, too, because you still blog. And I haven't done much of that lately in my exhaustion.
ReplyDeleteLove it. Babies are fun. Even if they are a lot of work! Owen is almost ten months and I honestly don't know where it went! I have to say though, that I am DULY impressed that you have your kids sitting at the table for scripture study. I so wish we were the kind of family that did that. Do we even do FHE? No. I can't hardly fathom scriptures. We do get in a family prayer though. Here's to wishing we were more like you. Again!
ReplyDeleteYou have such a beautiful family Lindsay. What a precious baby.
ReplyDeleteThey really are little for so short a time. Emmett isn't even 2 years old which seems like it should still be little but he's such a little boy. I'm so glad both you and Timothy are getting so many snuggles. Not much compares to those. And he is so very darling.
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