It’s been 7 weeks and we still haven’t been able to properly introduce our baby.
Introducing someone to your baby for the first time can be a strange thing. Because you really want to jump up and down, clap your hands like a seal, and scream, “Oh my god, come meet my baby!” Isn’t it just cute! Look at his hands.. aren’t they small!? Look at his hair, it’s lovely. Give him a hug, isn’t he the most delicious piece of gorgeousness you’ve ever seen!?’
But you can’t say that. You have to be a little calm about it and pretend that this isn’t some small miracle, and that it’s just an abnormal human being surprised and proud of how great your body is please do not!
So I end up just casually smiling and awkwardly saying, “So…um…yes…this is my baby…this is Joseph.’
And the other person smiles and says that she is cute, but I wonder if she realizes that this baby is actually the cutest baby in the world? It’s really the cutest.
Oh yeah…this is Joseph (the best baby in the world!)
That’s why I haven’t written this introductory article yet, because I can’t find the words to tell you how amazing he is and how much I love my life right now.
Motherhood is a strange thing and is completely different for each mother. And it seems like that can vary greatly from child to child a mother has.
The strange thing for me is that when I gave birth to George (my first son, 20 months old), I didn’t feel like a mother. I felt the same way I did. The same old me, the one who forgot she wasn’t 16 and was nervous about being asked for her ID every time I bought her cheap wine. I ate Super Noodles for breakfast and Coco Pops for dinner. I played with friends, worked crazy long hours, and flew off on countless holidays with no luggage other than my passport, camera, and clean pair of pants.
I was me, but my adorable little buddy followed me everywhere I went. I was me too, but I slept a little less, went out less at night, and had more stuff in my suitcase!
But Joseph’s presence changed everything.
Suddenly I feel like a mother.
I’m not just a girl who plays house and pretends she knows what she’s doing. I am a biological mother with a biological child. My older children call me “Mom.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still me. I was planning our first family vacation within days of returning from the hospital, but Joseph’s first flight is already booked for January. I still want to travel the world and explore and see new places, but I definitely think about things from a mom’s perspective.
I talk about “my kids” in such a grown-up way that it makes me stop and giggle. I love saying “my sons” so much that I cram it into every sentence I can.
Things will be very different the second time around they are very good.
When it’s your first child, you have no idea what you’re doing. I kept thinking in my heart. “I can’t believe you let me have this baby without passing any exams or taking any tests!’
With the help of my family and George yelling at me whenever I did something wrong, I slowly learned how to take care of George. But I worried, panicked, and constantly second-guessed myself.
Once my second baby is born, I will have all the loveliness without any worries and I am loving every minute of it.
I’m doing all the things people told me to do with my first baby, but I never actually do them. Things like taking lots of pictures, sleeping whenever you need to, asking for help from people who can help you, and making yourself a priority once in a while. Because you can’t have a happy baby without a happy mom.
I know this is a travel blog, but most of you readers either don’t have kids or are already adults, so my baby-devouring writing probably won’t appeal to you. I don’t think so. Don’t worry, I’m not mad. I understand there is a time and a place for it, but this is probably not that place. Travel Hack will always be a travel blog, so I’m working on some new projects to keep this blog from becoming cluttered with baby spam. We will tell you more details in the new year!
But in the meantime, this is Joseph…my…um…new baby. (Yes, the best baby in the world!)