mother's day, redux
Today C and I went to visit a friend of ours who had her baby girl a few weeks ago. I brought The Bun along, of course, who pooped along the way (of course, since it was a fairly long car ride), and we all tiptoed into the baby's room shortly after our arrival to see the little one.
I must admit I had to suppress squeeing when I saw the baby - so tiny, slightly curled up, and sleeping in that peaceful way babies have. It's too easy to forget how small newborns are. The Bun cooed very softly in my arms when he saw her, then lost interest and proceeded to climb all over the sofa, babbling to himself. As I watched him, I marveled not at how fast he has grown up, but how powerful maternal amnesia can be. The new mother and I talked a bit about taking care of newborns, and how daunting it feels, especially when you have to do it alone, and I realised that I don't really remember very much about how I managed to handle The Bun, the household, and my sanity during those early months at home alone, especially when J was away. I guess it helped that The Bun adapted easily to a routine and was generally quite an easygoing baby, but there was still a lot to juggle. My parents were very helpful, definitely, and having a part-time cleaner who came in once a week was very useful too, but by and large I was fully responsible for The Bun and his well-being.
What I can remember, though, is how dark my mood could be. How sometimes it felt like I was on one end of a very long tunnel and I couldn't see any way out.
The challenges just keep evolving, I guess. Having come through the other side, I don't know what other advice I can give new mothers apart from telling them that it will get better, and that they will find their groove, and yes, someday, hopefully not too far away, the light will finally shine through, and it will be (kind of) fun.
Edit: This brings to mind a wonderful photo, seen here. In my spare time I'm going through the photoblog archives of Sarah Mackenzie's son, Kepler (amazing name!), who is the baby pictured in the photograph. All of his newborn photos are superbly captured. He is now almost eight years old, and his mother has been faithfully chronicling his growth and development through the years. Sarah Mackenzie is an amazing photoblogger who presently lives in Montcaret, France. Her blog, eleven47, which chronicles every day of her life at precisely 11.47am, is one of my favourite reads. It really puts my own flash365 project to shame.
I must admit I had to suppress squeeing when I saw the baby - so tiny, slightly curled up, and sleeping in that peaceful way babies have. It's too easy to forget how small newborns are. The Bun cooed very softly in my arms when he saw her, then lost interest and proceeded to climb all over the sofa, babbling to himself. As I watched him, I marveled not at how fast he has grown up, but how powerful maternal amnesia can be. The new mother and I talked a bit about taking care of newborns, and how daunting it feels, especially when you have to do it alone, and I realised that I don't really remember very much about how I managed to handle The Bun, the household, and my sanity during those early months at home alone, especially when J was away. I guess it helped that The Bun adapted easily to a routine and was generally quite an easygoing baby, but there was still a lot to juggle. My parents were very helpful, definitely, and having a part-time cleaner who came in once a week was very useful too, but by and large I was fully responsible for The Bun and his well-being.
What I can remember, though, is how dark my mood could be. How sometimes it felt like I was on one end of a very long tunnel and I couldn't see any way out.
The challenges just keep evolving, I guess. Having come through the other side, I don't know what other advice I can give new mothers apart from telling them that it will get better, and that they will find their groove, and yes, someday, hopefully not too far away, the light will finally shine through, and it will be (kind of) fun.
Edit: This brings to mind a wonderful photo, seen here. In my spare time I'm going through the photoblog archives of Sarah Mackenzie's son, Kepler (amazing name!), who is the baby pictured in the photograph. All of his newborn photos are superbly captured. He is now almost eight years old, and his mother has been faithfully chronicling his growth and development through the years. Sarah Mackenzie is an amazing photoblogger who presently lives in Montcaret, France. Her blog, eleven47, which chronicles every day of her life at precisely 11.47am, is one of my favourite reads. It really puts my own flash365 project to shame.