Newborns
I’m not one of those mothers who wishes her offspring stay forever small although I’m sure I’ll be one of those old women follow around newborns like I now follow someone smoking a garum. I am mindful to try and enjoy each stage for all its beauty, complicating factors aside. Of course some stages are more agreeable to me than others. I absolutely adore toddlers with their abundance of enthusiasm, personality and sheer edibleness (Hamish is running around dressed as Mr. Incredible while sporting a Batman cape) never mind that they are chaotic and a nightmare in the car park. I am so looking forward to seeing Dahlia the toddler but until then I do have pleasures to bide time.
I do enjoy the small compact cuddliness of newborns. They are lovely to hold and the ultimate accessory to wear to the joyous acclaim of all around you who can’t resist asking “How old?” and sneaking a closer look. The respect so lacking when I was pregnant suddenly appears after birth and now I inspire the acclaim of a hero (Shouldn’t that be reserved for the toddler years?).
How delicious the sleep that is woken with such abundant stretching, yawning and squirming. Newborns are the ultimate embodiment of laziness and relaxation. When I put her down, Dahlia remains stretched, back arched and legs curled up without yielding to the flat surface. Newborns are so nice to carry when they mold to your body and snuggle to your nooks. Their noises are so strange and cute; squeaks, snuffles, snorts, honks and sighs. Their skin is so exquisitely soft especially when they plumpen. Dahlia already looks so rounded and roly-poly.
Newborns are so otherworldly. Their languid fingers flutter like amniotic seaweed maybe registering alien signals as extraordinary antennae. Their hands always insisting to be by their face. Their face so deadpan when awake and when asleep is animated in a series of expressions and emotions and even laughing and crying in such dreamy sleep (What are the aliens telling her?). What dramatic stuff the business of eating and sleeping can be! Dahlia tries to talk to me by pushing her tongue to her lips as if feeding. So I do it back and we talk to each other. There aren’t many better topics of conversation than food after all.
Maybe one of the best things about newborns is that their miraculous perfection and potential is able to so profoundly affirm your identity and sense of self. I made this beautiful person!?! Wow. That and the fact that they stop crying when you pick them up/take them from someone else. After giving birth, I deserve nothing less!
I do enjoy the small compact cuddliness of newborns. They are lovely to hold and the ultimate accessory to wear to the joyous acclaim of all around you who can’t resist asking “How old?” and sneaking a closer look. The respect so lacking when I was pregnant suddenly appears after birth and now I inspire the acclaim of a hero (Shouldn’t that be reserved for the toddler years?).
How delicious the sleep that is woken with such abundant stretching, yawning and squirming. Newborns are the ultimate embodiment of laziness and relaxation. When I put her down, Dahlia remains stretched, back arched and legs curled up without yielding to the flat surface. Newborns are so nice to carry when they mold to your body and snuggle to your nooks. Their noises are so strange and cute; squeaks, snuffles, snorts, honks and sighs. Their skin is so exquisitely soft especially when they plumpen. Dahlia already looks so rounded and roly-poly.
Newborns are so otherworldly. Their languid fingers flutter like amniotic seaweed maybe registering alien signals as extraordinary antennae. Their hands always insisting to be by their face. Their face so deadpan when awake and when asleep is animated in a series of expressions and emotions and even laughing and crying in such dreamy sleep (What are the aliens telling her?). What dramatic stuff the business of eating and sleeping can be! Dahlia tries to talk to me by pushing her tongue to her lips as if feeding. So I do it back and we talk to each other. There aren’t many better topics of conversation than food after all.
Maybe one of the best things about newborns is that their miraculous perfection and potential is able to so profoundly affirm your identity and sense of self. I made this beautiful person!?! Wow. That and the fact that they stop crying when you pick them up/take them from someone else. After giving birth, I deserve nothing less!