There is Nothing Like a Newborn

There really is nothing like a newborn.  I find myself saying this multiple times a day, to anyone who will listen.  Which is usually Duck.

Okay, there are the 2 am (and midnight and 5 am) feedings.  There is the ridiculous amount of laundry.  There is the absurd amount of stuff I find myself carrying from room to room: a blanket, a burp cloth, a tub of wet wipes, a changing pad, diapers, the nursing pillow, and the baby.  Seriously, how can something so small need so much stuff?

But that is not what I mean.

There is nothing like a newborn.  The wrinkled skin covered in soft, fine hair.

The tiny, uncalloused little feet.

The soft fragile head, the silky baby hair.

The amazing smell of their head (yes, I love newborn smell.)

Their sweet bleating cry.

All the tiny, perfect features.

The simplicity of their needs: to be held, to be fed, and to be loved.

Yes, I'm tired and my days feel completely unproductive.  I tend to choose just holding Duck and staring at him, marveling over his dark eyes and impossibly small fingers and toes instead of doing laundry, dishes, or my licensing paper work. It always feels like the right choice.

This time will pass much too quickly.  Already, he is starting to fill out, and loose the gentle wrinkleness of being a newborn.  His expressions and noises are already changing.

So I will take every opportunity to enjoy the uniqueness that is this fleeting age, the beautiful, temporary moment that is a newborn.