One For The Files

The last couple of days, and particularly nights, can be crossed of the list, check marked and filed in that big oversize file entitled Moments That Smug Parents Tell You To “Wait” For. You know the ones. You’re waxing on about the sweet little toothless grin of your newborn and hear a quippy Just wait until he’s teething, along with a look of We’ll just see if your happy to be a mom then.

Well, round two on this babyin’ thing, and I wouldn’t choose to be anywhere else than here, marked by a nice dose of snot and spit up, weary from holding a listless baby… And happy.
Happy that my arms can serve as a calming salve that comforts my little one.

Brayden’s been sporting his first fever starting a couple of days ago. We arrived home from a day date and as soon as I scooped up his lethargic body in my arms and pressed my lips in for a kiss on his forehead, I knew this would be a moment. One that get’s filed away in my memory banks, alongside the First Laugh and First Crawl… here it is. First Fever.

We took him in to the doctor just to be on the safe side, and our little champ’s teething along with a possible slight virus.

Nights have been spent rocking, Tylenol-ing, whispering many “It’s okays,” patting with a chilled washcloth and hushing back to sleep. And because bouts of sleep don’t last long, for either of us, I lay him back in bed next to me, with my hand feeling the heat of his back, hovering and waiting for the cool to come.

Yesterday, we had a family adventure all planned out… and paid for with no chance of refund. So, since we’re high on living life, we charged ahead to the indoor hotel waterpark to escape the cold. Our little cling-on stayed conformed to the shape of my chest the entire time, his heavy body pressed against mine and flushed face resting in the nook of my neck and shoulders. I floated my way through the kiddie pool to help keep him cool, figured out a way rock him in the rickety white plastic chair while stabilizing my phone to photograph my girl traipsing through the pools with her daddy, and awkwardly balanced my sleepy babe in my arms as I pushed a full stroller back to our room for a nap.

We’re all a little tired and out of it, finding the harmony of this interim week where work and vacation are trying to counterbalance one another and enjoying the soon-to-be-getting-back-to-normal.

Enjoy your weekend filled with your own lasts of this year and firsts of the next!

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