Babies- Make ‘future worth living for’

Before I met my niece (Sonia Singh) who is all of 6 months old, I had never held a baby for more than 5 minutes. Being the youngest in my family, I even have cousin’s kids (technically my nephews) who are older than me. So spending 10 days with her was an eye opener in to the world of babies. I always thought that with babies that young, the only activities are feeding and diaper changing. I was so wrong!!! While those activities constituted the majority, entertaining her was a task by itself.

You have her attention for five minutes if it is her singing caterpillar and ten minutes if you sing along with the caterpillar. Ten minutes in the swing and fifteen minutes if she is singing. Then she is bored and bawling and needs to be taken for a guided tour of the house. Toys didn’t help for too long probably ‘coz I wasn’t sure why she was crying. Was she hungry, sleepy or just plain bored? So you try all the combinations before something works. And sometimes nothing works except being held by her mother.

I also realized that they have so many expressions and they can change every second. One instant, she’s crying and the next she’s got big smile on her face. And I would do anything to see that happy sunshine smile, including faking hiccups and burps. Coughing like an old hag. Anything!

I remember reading somewhere that, “A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.”