Natural babies

Posted by Breeze on Sunday, December 16, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Category: Breeze

I was struck this week by how naturally my children do the things I’ve had to learn to do. I’ll start with Tulip’s vocabulary acquisition. We bought a new book this week, one that was a favorite of mine as a little girl, and promises to be one of Tulip’s favorites. She wouldn’t let me read any other book the first day it came because we had to read about Liza Lou about 6 times instead, even once while she took her bath before bedtime. There are several words in the book that were new for Tulip. Miserable was one, and soggy was another. With each word, Tulip found a way to work her new word into the conversation within five minutes of having learned it. She was clearly both checking to be sure that she was using the words correctly and fixing the words in her memory. It was the same as the trick of calling a new acquaintance by his or her name immediately to fix the name in your memory, but no one has taught Tulip this, she just knew that that’s what she needed to do. She’s so amazing, and after her bath, she and her towel were also quite soggy.

On to Smiley’s naturally amazing skills. I think he may become a Bradley Birth Method instructor at the ripe old age of 9 months. As my last entry indicated, he swallowed Cinderella’s slipper. It is still somewhere in his digestive tract after 11 days, which is freaking me out, but I was even more freaked out Friday when he hadn’t pooped for a full week. His doctor isn’t worried, and Smiley actually went in to be checked Friday morning, but since he isn’t in any discomfort and isn’t showing any indication of a blockage, though clearly 7 full days of no poop indicate something isn’t normal, the doctor keeps saying what is obviously true, that all we can do is wait that shoe out.

Late Friday evening, though, he finally managed to pass some poop. Tulip was asleep, and Mr. Breeze and I were hanging with Smiley in the playroom, where he was crawling around happily while we relaxed on the floor. He kept showing signs of trying to poop, and we just tried not to distract him while he got down to some serious business. Watching out of the corner of my eye, I recognized his strategy; it was the same as the Bradley Birth Method’s strategy for dealing with back labor. He got up on his hands and knees. He rocked. He didn’t waste energy screaming and crying about something that obviously didn’t feel good but still needed to happen; he just stayed quiet and mellow and let gravity and nature take its course. There was a bit of grunting. and he made some faces, but he just let it all happen while he worked with his body’s urges. Something so natural that my 9 month old knows it, but I spent $200 and 8 weeks learning it. Babies are amazing.