Bopping Along With Baby

Life is pretty darn jolly. We're all working on getting back into the swing of things...meals at regular times, naps in the appropriate places, everyone wearing clothing...you know, that sort of thing. I am considering this Day One of integrating into real, normal life. We have been folding and folding and folding laundry, taking little hiatuses to the garden, eating a lot of strawberry popsicles and taking breaks from every little thing to say to ourselves, "Isn't he darling?" *sigh sigh sigh*

I have to admit that I cried when A came to kiss me goodbye for work this morning but, I also managed to bathe both of the older boys while nursing the newest addition. Give and take. I am not a very dependent or sappy wife generally but, I always do this after I have a baby. I know he has tomorrow off and that this coming weekend we'll have extra time together because of the holiday but somehow the hormones win out anyhow and there I am sniffling away in the rocker while he buttons his dress shirt. But, as I said....I musn't be too hard on myself I am having my quickest postpartum recovery ever and am already downstairs jetting around doing all kinds of little things I never did in the first week after a baby's arrival. Last night I wiped down my own kitchen counter-tops, I swept the floor this morning and folded a basket of laundry and as I mentioned...my biggest triumph of the day, baths all round. Small victories, that's where its at.

Outside my bedroom window in the pussy willow tree I watch poof out in the early spring, there is an amorous squirrel couple who have been scurrying around for weeks nibbling off tender willow shoots and leaves and carting them back to weave into a little round nest at the thickly hidden main crotch of the tree. If you tilt your head at just the right angle you can see the busy whisking tail of Daddy Squirrel or Mommy, whomever it is who is doing the packing and weaving at the moment while the other partner comes bounding in from some far branch with a new twig or two. Cute cute to see and kind of fun to see the activity winding down and see the wad of green that is the nest starting to dry out and see the tail of the occupant just sitting and no longer whisking. I was up in my bed, snuggling my new baby and just a few feet across through the air a squirrel mommy was snuggling her new babies in her tree-house bed. Parallelism is cozy.

So, now I have a first pediatrician appointment schedule for later in the week and I'm working on a grand plan for disconnecting from the dependency from my dear Mama who has been here since two days before the birth, helped me breathe through contractions, has been doing my laundry, entertaining the boys, washing the dishes, cooking three square meals from scratch and spending lots of time laughing, goofing around and talking, talking, talking. So wonderful to have this therapeutic time together. I am one spoiled puss and I know it. The other side of this fabulous time is that its always a big adjustment to let go of the spa-like life and move back to being the mommy in charge. I feel more optimistic about the switch this time than I think I've ever felt before. Finally getting my feet under me with motherhood maybe? Is this what happens over time? I like to think so.

And in the meantime, there are long, tender, velvet soft toes to nibble and the first roses have opened in the garden and the baby has gotten to the point where he has that lovely, creamy milky smell. Life, is very jolly all round....