Little Joseph

I can't tell you how much I am enjoying little Joseph!

Part of it is being more relaxed and confident than I was first and second times as a mother. Part of it is being so stinkin' thankful that he's alive and well. But a large part of it is because he is so chilled-out.

I'll always remember the first few days with baby Nat. He popped out of me, opened his tiny mouth and roared like a lion. He repeated his roaring many times in the next few days. I used to look into his red, screwed-up face and say, "There's a lot more of that coming over the next few months. Years." And there was.

Baby Anna-Lucia popped out of me and in a similar fashion, opened her tiny mouth and roared like a lioness. Again, I wasn't naive enough not to know there was plenty more where that came from.

But Joseph only seems to cry when he's hungry for milk, having pain in his tummy from that same milk, or because he needs to suck something to remind him of the milk. He never seems to cry for no good reason. I am shocked and aghast. I don't think babies are supposed to work this way.

When he does cry, he has a very quiet cry. Granted, he does a loud snort in between each cry, but the actual cries are quiet. Maybe like the roary little mews of a lion cub. I don't know. Either way, it seems unusual.

Today, I took him to the shops. I sat in the Coffee Club with my chai latte and decaf caramel latte (hey if you've got 2 for 1 hot drinks with your VIP Club card, you gotta use it, right?) remembering the time I sat in Gloria Jeans two years ago, trying to squeeze some miserable drops of enjoyment out of a coffee while I juggled a tiny red screaming baby girl. People glared at me as if I was pinching her to deliberately make her cry. I didn't enjoy that coffee at all.

Today I drank my chai latte, my decaf caramel latte and a whole wine-bottle-full of cold water while Joseph slept in the pram! Nobody glared at me. I enjoyed every last drop. I discovered I prefer the chai. I congratulated myself on finally buying new face washers for the kids and four funky shirts for Nat. I chuckled at a little boy who, when admonished by his mother for publicly fishing something large from his nose, loudly promised her, "It's okay! I'll put it back in my nose!!"

Good times. And having little Joseph with me asleep in his pram only helped me enjoy it more.

I can't tell you how much I am enjoying little Joseph!