New Baby

On July 2nd, I had my first baby. My life is very small right now, mostly confined to my apartment and the other buildings in our apartment complex. Sometimes it feels like I have been a mother for a long time, and sometimes it still doesn’t feel real at all. Is she really mine and my husband’s to keep forever?

As I am writing this, my little one is sleeping on a blanket on the living room floor, all swaddled up (her favorite thing, especially when my husband does it, as he is a much better swaddler than I am). She is on her back, but her head is turned to the side. She will probably have a flat head, if she doesn’t have one already. Oh well, she is still pretty perfect to me (her grandparents would agree, of course).

She is starting to squirm a little bit; it is about time for her afternoon snack. But mostly she is quiet and still. Her legs kick up sometimes or her hands attempt (yet again) to escape from the confines of the swaddle. I think my typing might be startling her. I’m waiting for the tell-tale signs of hunger: smacking lips, sticking-out tongue, little whimpers. None yet. It’s not like I won’t know when it is time; her lungs and vocal chords are well-developed.

Babies are like fires; you can watch them for hours and never get bored.