My husband and I went out and about this past Sunday, the first time I'd been out of the house (save for two doctor's appointments) since I had the baby. We were getting some pictures developed and while we waited, we killed some time in the shopping center.
A shopping center that just so happened to have a Babies R Us. After picking up an "abc dog" (as my husband calls it) and some more onsies, I found the book section and my chosen prey: On the Night You Were Born. When I rejoined my husband though, the conversation went like this:
Husband: A book? The kid's going to have an ereader before too long. Paper books are obsolete. We might as well buy him a VHS tape.
Me: But I want to sit in my glider and read him a book! With paper!
Husband: You just got a kindle for Christmas. Download it on there.
Me: But it won't be in color. The entire time I was in labor, I kept thinking about this book.
*husband wordlessly puts book in shopping cart*
BOOM! And that's how you play the game, people.
Seriously, I wasn't lying. Despite not having read the book, I had the title stuck in my head, because I kept thinking about how I'd look back on the pain and discomfort of labor and it would be worth it, because it would be the night that my son was born (which turned out to be totally true).
So Sunday night I sit in the glider to read him this book.
It starts:
"On the night you were born,
the moon smiled with such wonder
that the stars peeked in to see you
and the night wind whispered.
“Life will never be the same.”
Yes folks, that's how the book starts. It only gets more sentimental from there. I could hardly read the book to him, I was crying so much. I blame the hormones.
Also, the pain meds. I had a root canal yesterday and I am still somewhat loopy (ergo why I think this is amusing enough to blog about it). Yes, a root canal. My filling fell OUT of my tooth last Wednesday, so I had to have some dental work I was carefully avoiding taken care of yesterday.
Yes, between the root canal and my c section almost three weeks ago, life's just been a barrel of laughs. I say that to be sarcastic, but I am also serious. Because when you pick up the baby to burp him, and he spits up ALL OVER the front of your shirt, or when you just get finished changing him and he immediately poops in his diaper SMILING the ENTIRE time, you have to laugh.
As my friend Liz says about the baby, "he has this look like he's smarter than everyone in the room...and he's waiting for them to figure it out."
The poop/pee/puke cycle gets better pretty quickly, but it seems like forever when you're in the trenches. And you know what, he does look like he's evaluating the room for the first victim (that'll be the person who figures out that he's smarter than everyone else).
ReplyDeleteLOOK AT THAT FACE. Tell me he's not sitting there, going, "HMMMMMM......"
ReplyDeleteFuture ruler of the known universe, dude.
I like the steepled fingers. Yep, he's definitely got it all worked out.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course babies need real books! It's all about colours and textures for them. I had to laugh at your husband's reaction.
Sorry for not saying congrats before, I was all swept up in the Platform-Building Campaign... lame excuse I know! Congrats! :)
I vote for both sappier in general and hormones. And you went out already?! Wow. I think my son was 3 weeks old before I ventured further than the doctor's office.
ReplyDeleteBtw, if you want a book to sob over, Love You Forever. Omg, I cannot read that book. I bought it for my mother when my son was about 17 mo old, and before I mailed it to her (we were in NY, she was in FL), my son saw it and wanted me to read it. I said I couldn't, my dh said, "Oh, come on, read it to him." I sobbed through the whole thing.
However, some weird people think it is creepy. I think it is the sweetest, most sentimental thing in the universe, and my mom agreed. (She was taking care of my grandmother, who was seriously declining, at the time. It really was the perfect gift.)
But yes, you need paper books for your little boy. Chewing on a Kindle just isn't the same.
Rena: So good to know that cycle gets better! The sleep thing is already better, so...
ReplyDeleteLiz: SO TRUE
Nick: That's TRUE! It's also a tactile experience for him too! I can't pull the labor card all the time after all. And no worries about commenting earlier, I know you're busy with your own munchkins!
Linda: I also got that book too, because yes, it makes me cry as well. But I opted for a mirror book instead because Connor is REALLY into his own reflection right now.