Language

I have come to realize that having a baby has changed the way I talk and what I talk about. I have found myself adding "ies" to the end of otherwise ordinary words. For example, "did you go poopies?," or "look at those footsies," or toesies, soapies, doggies, etc...

We were warned long ago about the necessity of discussing baby poop. It is not so prevalent now as it was when he was younger - but it is true, you find yourself having entire conversations about poop. When, what color, how much, texture... The thought of this, prior to having a baby would have instantly triggered my once impressive gag reflex, as I am sure some of you are experiencing right now. But now, it doesn't faze me.

What else doesn't faze me? Holding Aaron up to my nose to check out the diaper status, getting peed on, spit up on, and not so dirty - getting up in the middle of the night to feed him. It is truly God's provision for mothers because in my childless days if I saw a girlfriend's baby spit up - I would have been done - check please, I'm out of here. And sleep - don't mess with my sleep. Alan would quickly explain to anyone how prior to having this baby, I required a set amount of sleep that had to start and stop within a very small range of times, or very bad things would happen.

So, eight weeks into this adventure, I can easily say that I am not necessarily a new woman, but perhaps more of a woman than I was before. Adding "mom" to my title has miraculously (and I do mean miraculously) given me skills that I, nor anyone else, (family included - yes, I know what you guys were thinking) ever thought I would be capable of. Alan on the other hand, had some of these daddy skills before Aaron came. He just had more experience with babies, where I had evaded every invitation to hang out with my new mom friends and I would even go so far as to leave a store if a baby was crying wondering - why is she just letting him fuss like that? Now I know these things... or at least a little bit. Aaron, Alan, and our experiences teach me one or two new things each day and with God's grace I'll use them to meet the tasks he lays before me.

On a lighter note, last night while bathing Aaron, I decided to start getting him used to the idea of something touching his gums so that some time in the future teeth brushing won't be so detrimental. So I rubbed the top of his gums for a mere second or two and caused him to laugh, out loud for at least thirty seconds. I wondered if it was a fluke, so I did it again a couple of minutes later, and same result - undeniable laughter. It was the cutest thing I think I've ever seen.