It’s simple enough to say you won’t let a baby interrupt how you live your life, up until the moment you experience their wroth for a day and a night. Parents seldom operate on a strict schedule out of love of organization, they do it out of fear, we do it out of fear.

Yesterday was tough because Roby was overwhelmed. There were loads of new people and things going on and walking and sounds and also she’s hearing properly for the first time and did you know Roby and Mom are not one singular being but there is a seperation that’s hard to understand? and also I’m itchy and it’s smelly and the dogs are loud and Dad sneazes too loud, too and for some reason Mom smells the best and also my knees hurt because they are bigger today than they were yesterday. 

We knew that today would be more of the same, and more, with the visit of new uncles and old uncles and everybody and presents and big food, it was going to be a big day and if we weren’t careful it promised to be even more overwhelming and therefore tear-filled. Roby doesn’t get upset as some sort of power play to get what she wants, she does it because it’s hard to be a baby. She weighs less than 1 stone.

We enjoyed a modicum of success today because we had a plan and we stuck to it. Roby was held only by Mom and Dad, mostly Mom. When she started to get fussy we’d go up stairs and calm down, returning for either a nap or a snack, depending on which had happened more recently. We walked about, we napped, we baubled and babbled and it feels like we have a handle on things.

Roby’s the center of the universe, all babys are and ought to be. The idea that they shouldn’t be seems funnier and funnier to me. What else could I be prioritizing? Myself? My comfort? Roby is a literal picture of innocence and perfection who does nothing but bring out the very best in everyone lucky enough to spend a few minutes around her.