Carefree Highway

Boy. I’m not sure what it is, but folk rock is pretty much guaranteed to put this boy to sleep. At least, until his own bowels wake him up again.

I have to say it: Yesterday he pooped three times. Or was it four? In one day. As we all know this is very un-Owen-like; I thought it was worth mentioning. I’m not going to go into dirty detail, comparing it to paint or peanut butter or anything this time. Promise.

Three times!

OK.

Moments: So the other day as I was tidying the house I stepped into our tiny purple bathroom with Owen on my shoulder. I saw the mirror and thought to show Owen his reflection and see if he picked up on it this time. I tilted the mirror toward our faces, and this time, he caught on. He gazed and gazed at his second Mommers and at the baby in the mirror, and then he smiled.

I was prepared for an infant mind-fuck, you know? Like, if you traveled back in time and met yourself, what a mindjob would that be? I figured seeing yourself in the mirror for the first time would be the same. It wasn’t, though. He loved it, and I think he would have laughed if he knew how.

Watching this little cognitive milestone was so cool — like a taste of things to come. His first word, the day he figures out how to count, how to write, how to figure out differential equations. All that learning that’s going to come, and I’m going to get to see it all.

Great days: So Iain’s kayak buddy Ben called last night, to see if I’d popped the kid yet. He wanted to know all about it: whether we were sleeping, what the baby was doing, what it was like. And he said, “Man, you sound like you’re doing well, you know?”

I thought about it, and he’s right. I am doing well. I am really loving this part of my maternity leave — taking care of the baby, reading books and blogs during his naps, eating Goldfish crackers from the box. I’m not getting a lot of sleep, and the house is filthy, and we’ve ordered in more in the last seven weeks than we have in the last year — but we’re having a good time. Ever since I made the conscious decision to abandon my mommy paranoia, things have been much happier ‘round here.

I’m sure part of it is because I know it won’t last forever. Once these twelve short weeks are up, I go back to work, Owen goes to daycare, and Iain’s student teacher leaves, and the real business of life will get underway. But for now … sometimes my heart just pauses for a minute, you know, and I try to drink it all in.

This post brought to you by: the album “Gord’s Gold” by Gordon Lightfoot. One of these days I’ll resume listening to music recorded after 1975.

February 26, 2005 | Filed Under daily grind