Baby

Me and Leah (age 7 months)

Yesterday I babysat a little 8-month-old baby girl, Addie. Leah was napping while I babysat, so I had plenty of arms and attention to give this cute little baby. It was fun.

As I fed Addie a bottle, she slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. I just held her while she slept.

That's when I realized that it had been a long time since a baby had drifted off to sleep in my arms...in the middle of the day...with Lainy playing on the floor next to us.

Then I started noticing other things about my baby that have slipped away without me realizing it. Addie is all chubby and soft. Leah, these days, is all muscle (Probably because she has figured out how to climb on top of every previously-out-of-reach surface in our house... and does it every time I'm not looking.)

There were other differences too. Little things that left me feeling all sorts of nostalgia and wondering if I had treasured my baby enough while she was still a baby. It goes so fast.

Then Leah woke up.

At first she was thrilled to have Addie around. She smiled and said "Hieee". She sat by her and shared her toys. She was very sweet.

Then Addie crawled over to me wanting to be held. I picked her up as Leah watched carefully. As soon as Addie was in my lap, Leah came running over screaming, "Noooo!" She tried to pull my arms off Addie. She tried to climb in my lap too. She turned into a very jealous, grumpy little baby.

Leah insisted on me holding her until Addie left. Then she breathed a big sigh of relief and promptly went into the kitchen and climbed on top of the table.

The message was clear: Leah still wants to be the baby...sometimes. And that's okay with me!

Me and Leah (age 16 months)