> Mushypea, Sprout et al: Bittersweet

Monday 11 June 2012

Bittersweet

As my son's first tooth has started cutting through it has been met with excitement and sadness in equal measure.  He has grown and developed constantly over the entire eight months of his life thus far but this first tooth marks a turning point in my eyes.




His little face is about to change forever by the appearance of not one but two teeth.  His front two teeth are cutting through and in a very short while he will go from the gummy baby we adore to the start of becoming a little boy.  We have greeted each change with wonder and amazement and we look forward to more that is yet to come.  Sprout and I have set in motion the creation of a confident, playful, energetic and talkative little boy.

The past few months have seen a fast forward in developments and it has been hard keeping up.  He has gone from attempting to roll one day to mastering it the next.  He babbles non-stop from the moment he wakes yet we still have no clue as to what he is telling all and sundry.  He makes great strides in eating and is now self-weaning off the boob.  All this is great I assure you, but as he learns to do more and more himself his reliance on us decreases.  Good, great, hurrah!?

The things he needs from us, his parents, are changing.  I speak for myself when I say that I have only just grasped what he wanted from me - the amount of learning we have done is immense.  We have gone from working down the checklists of why he is crying to actually knowing what his different cries are.  Yes, we have figured when you are playing us my son!  We are proficient at reading his subtle body signals. He may try to hide his tiredness because he wants to continue playing but we are onto it.  The night feeds (yes, we are still having to do those) - I've finally managed to distinguish when it is plain habit to when he actually needs a feed.

I am currently in this happy place where I can respond automatically as I am now a master of all this baby-ness and bam!  I'm too slow on the uptake and he has gotten tired of waiting for me to catch up.  Munch pushes on with the necessary changes he must make and we have no choice but to run alongside.



There are so many moments I will miss that I am able to rub the sand that stings my eyes as I type this.  The beautiful gummy smile that greets us in a morning, the way he holds onto my fingers during the night feeds, the look he gives when he is tired of feeding himself, the way he babbles, blows raspberries and giggles at the things we do to entertain him.  Hey, I have to believe we are entertaining him otherwise he is just laughing at his Daddy and me which is understandable too!

Bittersweet because I want to bottle these moments forever yet am looking forward to all that is on the horizon.  His first word, his first step - so many, many more firsts.  We have truly enjoyed this beginning and I will miss it tremendously.

P.S. Soon after I finished this post Munch decided to surprise us further and walk pushing his walker for the very first time!  The expression on his face on realising what he was doing was magic.  Our baby is a little boy.

8 comments:

  1. I can so very much relate to this post! Our tiny baby is quickly becoming a cheeky little boy with a real life personality. It's amazing to watch him change and develop but it goes far too quickly. Great post - your little boy is gorgeous! X

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    1. Far too quickly - he started cruising today! We think he's gorgeous too but then we're biased :) Thank you.

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  2. Watching my own children grow has bought about feelings of sheer wonderment that I had a part in building not one but two perfect little beings.
    Sadness at them not being babies anymore? Yea, sure - but you know what, when I see their little faces at each new discovery as you did on the walker - my little bit of sadness disappears instantly. My boy is soon to be 6 years old (how the feck did that happen???) and my gorgeous daughter is just over 18 months and a delight to behold.

    Your little one is beautiful and love this post - the development is wondrous, isn't it?

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    1. It is the look of discovery on his face that makes us smile. We are still amazed at how we managed to produce this perfect little boy! Thank you.

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  3. This is such a beautiful post and it brings back so many memories.

    What is so fantastic is how much you are enjoying it all. I often got so caught up worrying if I was doing things right and what they wanted that I didn't take the time as often as I should to feel like everything was OK and going well.

    I get a warm, cosy, secure feel from this post and not only are you very lucky, doting parents but this gorgeous little man is a very lucky little boy to have you enjoying his every tooth, expression, roll and step.

    Beautiful and thank you :-) Jess

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    1. Thank you. Your comments mean a lot. I think we celebrate each little moment all the more because we are acutely aware of the heartbreak that comes from loss. We are blessed to have this little boy and we are thankful every day.

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  4. He is such a darling! Those beautiful eyes. I know exactly what you mean, I am constantly saying I want to freeze the children in time.

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    1. Thank you! Times doesn't stand still in this little man's life - he's in full steam ahead mode all the time.

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