Friday, September 19, 2008

Milky Smiles

There's a little phenomena that happens between a mother and her baby that I will call a milky smile. I've seen it with all three of my kids, but managed to forget about it until recently reminded by Micah. For me at least, it doesn't seem to be a long phase, it mostly happens when a baby first starts to smile and is exercising their new skill as much as they can. And of course, you have to still be breastfeeding. I want to remember it this time. The unabashed delight at seeing me in the morning, contrasted so sharply against my five year old's crankiness as I pry her out of bed to get ready for school.
Have you ever noticed that babies are almost always morning people? At least at the beginning. They may outgrow it later, but early on everyone is a morning person. Maybe it has something to do with all the naps during the day. So, here's the set-up. Take a snuggly, warm, just woken up baby. His diaper is changed and he is just soo hungry since it's been four hours since his last dark, nighttime feeding. As soon as you sit down, he almost lunges for your breast, sucking greedily. Then he glances sideways up at you, and he's just so happy to see Mommy, he can't help but get a huge grin, but he can't stop eating to socialize, he's much too hungry for that! So, it turns into this hilarious lopsided smile wrapped around a breast with milk dribbling out everywhere. You just can't help but smile back. It's so funny and cute looking at the same time. Then back to eating, but wait there's Mom-Milky smile-back to eating, and repeat.

Why do I think this is so special? Only a Mother will ever see that face, that angle, that expression. A baby can smile around a bottle no matter who's feeding him, but there just isn't that same intimacy, that same angle with the sideways glance. It's something unique between a breastfeeding Mother and her baby. A little slice of pure joy to soothe your sleep deprived consciousness and get you started on another day.

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Congratulations to Kristen and Rebecca. I wish you many moments of joy, and here's hoping I win something for once! =)
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Virtual Baby Shower

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