Momentary Maternal Mood

This is my nephew Callen. I just spent the weekend in St. Louis with him, his parents, and my in-laws. We had a fantastic weekend filled with visiting, playing, and watching the Cardinals win (Go Cards!). But most of the weekend was spent holding, playing, adoring, and helping out as best I could with my 5 month old nephew. 

Now nothing against my other nieces, nephews, and friends children, but this little guy has to be one of the most well behaved, quiet, and smiley children I've ever met. This is a little guy who laughed when he got his first shots. He smiles at everything. He almost never cries. He was sleeping four or five hours at a a stretch within days of birth. In other words, he's the kind of child every parent wished they had. 

And I was suckered in. He was so smiley, so happy, so easy to snuggle with and help with. I actually found myself thinking about motherhood. I thought to myself that if I could guarantee that this is what my child would be like I would sign up without a thought. I guess Jeff echoed the same feelings when asked by Callen's mother Jen. I watched her feed him, I read to him and snuggled with him, I watched his first bath in the big tub (he'll be very angry with me one day for posting this picture). I was fascinated. And for a moment I thought about being a mother. 

Then we decided to spell Jen and take care of the little one for an hour or two while she did some grocery shopping alone. He slept for a little while and woke up a bit fussy. This was odd. We had heard him fuss once the entire time we had been there. And it hadn't even been real fussing. Just a single whine or two. But now he was a tad fussy. So we changed him and I walked him around and he settled down. He relaxed enough to go back to sleep. 

And when he woke up, he was a totally different baby. He was hungry. And we were unprepared. He cried. He screamed. We hadn't heard more than a little whimper all weekend and here he was crying so hard he was coughing. I held him while Jeff started getting food ready. I tried to soothe him. I walked around, I sang, I rocked. But nothing helped. I came very close to handing him to Jeff and hiding in the bathroom. Here was the perfect child, screaming because of something I'd done, or failed to do. He cried while we fed him. It was only when we skipped the cereal and gave him his bottle that he settled. Then the smiles were back. But by then I had been reminded. I'm not cut out for parenthood. I'm just not. I sighed a sweet smile when mom came home and I could unload groceries instead. I love my new nephew, just like I love all my nieces and nephews and godchildren and friend's children. I love taking care of them for a while and then handing them back. No offense Jen. He is an amazing child. 

Nephew

This is Callen. This is my new nephew who was born just yesterday. Isn't he adorable? I'm incredibly lucky to be aunt to four nephews and two nieces by blood all of which I am completely in love with. I'm a godmother to several children. I have friend's children who I adore. And I get to spoil them all rotten and send them home to their parents. How lucky am I?

As I mentioned this little one was born yesterday to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, and I can't wait to meet him. Mom and baby are doing well. Jeff and I are planning to hit the road and visit them very shortly. I'll keep you posted.

Knitting Night

Wednesday's are knitting nights so I don't have a ton of time to post. I have so many knitting projects going right now that they're taking up most of my free time. I have a couple projects that I'm working on for Christmas or right after so I've been a bit rushed. But I'm not complaining. I've been a knitting fool recently and loving it.

And I'm incredibly excited to announce that I have a new niece or nephew coming. Congrats guys! So I'll have a baby project to work on as well. But that's not until June. I'm thinking a hat and booties might be out at that time of year. Baby swimwear anyone? :-)

But I figured I'd share my winter weather gear since the below zero temps today made sure I brought it out. About a year and a half ago I ended up out at this amazing yarn store and picked up some gorgeous blue merino wool. It was the nicest wool I had bought for myself at the time. I decided to celebrate by knitting myself mittens. My first pair of mittens to be exact. They came out...strange. Kind of wonky and odd, but they are warm and soft and I still wear them. I took the leftover yarn and knit myself a hat. It's a bit big but I love it. And when I still had most of a ball leftover I knit a lacy little scarf. The pattern doesn't come out perfectly in the picture but it's a great (and easy) pattern. That's the great part about knitting. Even if the pattern seems hard, most of the time with a little patience, you can learn anything.

Delivery Pains

I'm going to get hate mail on this one but it's what's on my mind.

One of the younger guys in my office and his wife had a baby on Monday. The couple had been trying for a long time and news of her pregnancy had been the talk of the office for the last couple months. All the talk was surprising considering that there are plenty of people in this office who I don't even know if they are married or not. I've overheard coworkers who have been working together for 15 years of so asking whether the other has kids. It's not a gossipy office. Most people just go to their cubes and work. So when the father started telling everyone, and I mean everyone, word spread and people got excited.

The baby was born on Monday. It was planned. The office received news that afternoon about the details and a couple pictures. The father was taking the week off to spend time with his new daughter and his wife. So I was a tad shocked when he walked into the office this morning, went to his desk, and started working. Two days after his wife delivers their first child he is back at work, and on a vacation day. Now I can't think of anything in the world that would make me come into the office on a vacation day. Perhaps I'm just not as attached to my job as I should be. But to come in two days after having a baby seems a bit extreme.

So all this morning I've been wondering why. Is there just so much stuff to do at the office that he felt the need to come into work? This young man is busy like the rest of us but I can't think of anything that couldn't wait a week or so. Now he's always been a bit of a workaholic but as a woman, I know I wouldn't have let my husband out of the house two days after a birth. If it's not work, is it the fact that he now has to deal with both his wife and his mother-in-law. But then why come into the office. He's on vacation. I would go anywhere except the office when I'm on vacation. The only other thing I can think of is that he is coming to work to relax. A new baby is stressful. There is the lack of quiet and lack of sleep. There is the constant stress of taking care of a brand new life. That explanation makes sense to me. I doubt that this young man gave too much thought to how much his life was going to change after having a baby. I can only imagine that he is here to rest. But I still think that his wife should probably be pissed. I know I would be.