This Time Around

It's amazing how, even having been through this whole new-baby-in-the-house-thing a few times before, there are things that have taken us by surprise since Josephine was born.  Her smallness, for one.  Her fragility and beauty and newness.  The way her siblings really love her, in a way that makes us so thankful that we can give the gift of siblinghood to each of these children of ours.  How could I have forgotten those things?  

Of course, things really are different this time around, partly because there is just one baby involved!  It has taken a little bit of getting used to to realize that there is just one baby to diaper, to nurse, to hold.  It feels as if I've always forgotten something, that sneaky secret twin I should be burping.  But can I just say it is oh so much easier?  A single baby fits in my arms (or a sling/carrier/a sibling's or daddy's arms) no problem.  It feels so healing to realize that I can care completely for this one baby.

Even amid the miracle of a new person being born, life has a way of slowly yet rhythmically moving forward.  Our kids are old enough that they have their own routines, their own activities and friendships which set the pace of our daily life.  Homework is done and meals are prepared and books are read.  It is incredibly soothing and fulfilling to be able to count on those rhythms and look forward to them,  simply with a new baby in our arms.  Realizing that our lives are enriched but not utterly changed.  It's a gentle shift.

One lesson I have learned over the course of the pregnancies that I've had is that it is truly good to rest following a birth.  To largely if not entirely stay at home, to take naps and sleep late and nurse the baby whenever she wants.  Where after Zosia's birth I was itching to do anything and everything-- from going on long walks to going to restaurants to going to yoga and entertaining-- over these years I've relished the pause that a new baby offers.  There is nowhere to go, nothing to do except the very basic things.  And these basic things seem to involve a lot of staring at a newborn baby (by each member of our family!).  Oh, I could gaze at Josephine for hours!  They should have a netflix station that is just real time footage of newborns, I would watch it!  Ben has a wonderful paternity leave, and it has been so lovely to watch him bond with Josephine, who has him wrapped around her finger, or play legos with Hugo, or cook something delicious for dinner.  

So that is all for today.  Gushing about newborns (sorry!), ordinary daily things, and rest.  And because it is Friday, a quote from Pope Francis for you:

"All that is good, all that is true, all that is beautiful brings us to God.  Because God is good, God is beautiful, God is the truth.  But the most beautiful thing that God made, the Bible says, was the family.  All of the love that God has in Himself, all of the beauty that God has in Himself, all of the truth that God has in Himself, He gives to the family.  And a family is truly a family when it is able to open its arms and receive all of this love."

Happy weekend, friends!