Sparkle, twinkle, giggle
On the rare occasions when I wake up before Zain, I get to see how he wakes up...
a yawn, a stretch that couldn't be cuter if it was done by a big eyed Pixar cartoon - and within fifteen seconds he is wide awake and absolutely delighted. It doesn't matter if it's dark and dreary outside, or cold, or whether he had a bad night. It is a new day and he can bring his stocky legs all the way up and taste his toes, and what could be more wonderful than that?
From the misty eyed bewilderment of a newborn to the studious gazing and tentative touching of a 3 month old, Zain, at almost 8 months, is now constantly leaping and stretching for anything and everything like an overzealous acrobat or new yoga enthusiast.
Everything is exciting and inviting and mesmerising, things we don't notice anymore, like the cloudy vapours escaping the kettle, or fluttering leaves, dancing shadows, flickering flames, running taps.
Things like jackets hanging on hooks, dowdy sleeves just waiting to be tugged lovingly in an eager handshake, corners of tablecloths inviting trouble, sleepy unaware leaves of house plants yanked awake. Everything is quite literally up for grabs.
Now as I carry Zain past anything, I have to be on guard because that baby is just flailing around madly like a hipster at a farmer's market, thankfully immediately distracted from one mundane object to a less dangerous mundane object.
The strangest things make him laugh. Wiggly toes, scary faces, me squatting on the floor by his highchair to clean up spilt food.
One of the most exciting things is when I've just put him down for a nap, and I think he is asleep so I look over at him and catch his eye. He now knows that I know that he is not asleep and there is an immediate laugh and throwing off of the blanket, legs going up and down in a mad gallop on the mattress. Hurray!!!
Parenting is fun because of the multitude of emotions that often coexist, like siblings trying to get through a narrow doorway at the same time, elbowing and shoving each other's shoulders in a bid to get out first.
The frustration of spending 45 minutes trying to nap baby overrun by the excited giggles of a tiny human who has won this battle and is extremely delighted.
The dismay of waking up in the morning before the sun because baby is already doing his morning stretches and early bird gurgling slowly toed away by slobbery kisses (to be honest, I don't think he knows how to smooch and is just teething so likes to rub his gums on my cheek).
The pain of a tiny but surprisingly strong hand clawing my face in a demonic tiger cub kind of way mollified by the sparkly eyes and what I can assume is love and not sadistic pleasure in his cherubic face.
I like how he keeps me on my toes (and he hasn't even started crawling yet) by forever growing, demanding more but giving more as well, an incredibly beautiful and delicate balance. How he has helped me declutter my house and life to make more room for him, how he is teaching me and his dad to be less selfish and more forgiving, how he stays cheerful and persistent. Anyone who says being a baby is easy, needs to read about leaps!
Imagine the explosion of unceasing learning that babies have to endure in their first year! The incredible brain development and physical learning, how difficult it must be to keep reaching for a toy that is getting further and further because we are sliding backwards although we want to move forwards!
My perspective (and thus way of dealing with) on nightly wakings and random crying spurts changed once I found out it's because of the exponential nonstop development in their baby brains that sometimes just gets too much.
Babies are hard at work even during their sleep!
I just hope we can continue to live up to how remarkable these tiny humans are and keep learning from, and keeping alive as long as possible, their excitement and joy at life.
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