Being a "Gramma"

I never expected to be a grandmother.  I'm not the kind of mother who hounds her children to "bring forth and multiple on the earth."  Today's world is challenging and the decision must be made by the parents - not the grandparents (in my opinion).

Evan and Megan minutes after Halina was born

"Oh, My!" said I, when my son told me he was going to be a father.  He had just established himself in a house that he had recently purchased and I can remember thinking, "wow - an entire house to himself."  I have never lived alone, so the luxury of an entire house was mind boggling to me.  In fact, when he first moved in I found myself moving mentally from room to room smiling over the sheer openness and space. ( I must note why I have never lived alone - I went from living at home to living in a dorm in college, to an apartment with roommates, to married life, to having children, to divorced life with the children, to a partner...which is where it stands now - subtract the two grown children but add one fabulous dog named Annie.  A hotel room is the only place that I am a master of my own domain.)

My son's empty house has totally changed now.  His home is filled with baby things along with Mommy things and two cats and one dog named Goose.  It all fits and it's delightful.  And much better than sheer openness and space (in my opinion).

Today's babies come with many accessories.  I think with baby showers it doesn't rain cats and dogs. It rains strollers and halo beds and car seats and bathing tables and breastfeeding pillows and "boppy" pillows and blankets made of all sorts of soft materials and baby clothes in all sizes and diapers in all sizes and toys of all types and the beginnings of a massive library of books and socks and stuffed animals and probably even things that go bump in the night.  (Or things you can bump into in the night)

In the beginning there was a blob.  Granted, it was a cute blob.  It eats and poops.  Once in a while it looks at you and you swear it smiles.  It has gas.  It cries now and then. It hiccups. It sleeps a lot but wakes often.  It is connected to Mom via a nipple or two.  It's also connected to Dad in between feedings.



Mom and Dad are exhausted.  The blob smells really good and is so soft you can't stop touching.  Its toes and fingers are tiny and perfect.  Its lips are rosy and bow shaped.














Very soon the blob becomes a she baby.  She begins to flirt.  She is engaging.  She watches.  She winds you around her ten perfect fingers.  She begins to mimic what you are doing with your face. You can teach her to blow bubbles.  You can teach her to copy you when you squinch up your mouth.  She smiles more and more and you know there is laughter just around the corner.  Mom and Dad are still exhausted but it's getting better. Sleep is in larger chunks.  Five hours of sleep happened I am told.

We celebrated her first Christmas last week.  She is almost five months old and she is the magical being we all imagined a baby could be.  After dinner she sat on the table (with support) and she pounded her little feet in a drumming rhythm.  She seemed to like the noise.  She likes getting raspberries on her tummy.  She likes being barefoot and she plays with her toes a lot.  She knows how to rip open a package.

She has had nothing but breast milk all this time.  The goal is six months.  She now watches as we eat solid food.  She watches every bite.  I have not doubt that she would relish a taste now and then.  We don't give in.  It's healthier this way we are told.

I have added about 3,000 miles on my car from the trip between Medford and Grants Pass. I watch for pictures to appear on my phone or Facebook.  I am hungry for more. She changes every day it seems.  I don't want to miss anything.

Now I understand what everyone was saying.  I had no idea what I was missing.  I am really looking forward to watching and sharing things with her. We joke about needing a stroller for me at Disneyland.  Who knows.  What I do know is that Halina Belle Lipson is a joy. I wish her a world of peace.