Almost Canadian

I have a baby. She is seven weeks old and has already changed a lot from that first day I met her at the hospital. She makes cute noises and smiles and gets mad when I tuck her head into the baby wrap because she wants to be looking around, not safely secured so I can use both my hands. This last part makes it challenging at times to do things like eat lunch and wash dishes, because she also doesn’t like to be set down for very long.

She is growing quickly, and I am in awe of the fact that someday, developmentally, she will catch up to me the way I have caught up to my mother. My mom will always have 20+ years of experience I don’t have, but we are both adults and can have adult conversations and connect as adults, even though when we met I was a tiny helpless baby who couldn’t talk or walk or even eat by myself.

So too, will my baby grow, and someday we will have conversations. She’ll go to school and make friends and learn things and have hobbies and overall be her own person. She will catch up to me cognitively, and she will teach me things I don’t know yet.

For now, my baby is small and helpless and trusts me to protect her and take care of all her needs. Bit by bit, she will learn to care for herself and become a capable human being, and I think that’s absolutely wild and also beautiful.