The second month...

At home with the baby, I'm gaining confidence in taking care of him. I develop small refinements: draping a thin absorbent towel over the nursing pillow; keeping one reassuring hand on him all the time while diapering (as massage therapists do for their clients); wrapping his lower half in a receiving blanket to carry him. There are probably other things I'm not aware of, in how I talk to him, carry him, and also take care of myself. This is mother's intuition asserting itself. Parenting is intuitive and experiential and hands-on, so it's working a different part of my brain and body. At work, I'm used to the theoretical and abstract and thought-based. 


July 1 - I lie with the baby on a hammock strung between two backyard trees, with the leafy canopy above us. When we have company, I see again how he is the training baby for those planning or those trying: he reassures them that they can do it too. 


It is early days yet but I am conscious of how my philosophy of parenting will develop and evolve. A friend mentioned that it was possible to 'mold' your child, but I would like him to be curious...


He's started to look at me more and 'pick me out of a crowd.' He will still allow others to hold him but may look at me with furrowed brow if I'm nearby, or will look carefully at the person holding him. 


July 4 - We have the traditional (Chinese) one-month (+) party! We invite our families, extended families, and one table of our closest friends from church. There is an outpouring of support and an excess of good food! 


July 7 - I'm reading up on teaching American Sign Language to babies. I am most excited about language and cognitive development...I will teach him how to be empathetic and how to spell, play rhyming games and encourage his imagination. My husband will teach life skills like maintaining a car, watering the lawn, feeding and taking care of fish, washing his hair, throwing a football, hooking a worm....Suddenly wondering: do boys colour? I will break out the crayons with him when he's older! 


This baby doesn't have many options now, and therefore no preferences. Later, with greater awareness, he will be able to exercise choice based on experience and knowledge of the world. These are easy times, but later the nuances will reveal his personality, and who he is. 


We are already reminiscing about the day he was born, recalling the details of how we felt: pride; tenderness; protectiveness. This is the balance with a newborn: wanting to show him off and shield him at the same time. 


I order to read: