6 things I miss about newborns

  

Originally published on Sweetspot.ca

My daughter Lucy at one-week-old.
 

My friend Jes had a baby girl right before Christmas. She's fresh into the onesies and the poops and the sleeplessness (and probably wondering what the heck she's gotten herself into). But it got me reflecting on what I miss about having a tiny person in my life -- and you might be shocked by what I miss most.

1. Breastfed baby poop. With solids a couple months away, the days of oohing and ahhing over grainy mustard excrement are short-lived. I sometimes miss the molten lava explosions, no matter how disgusting they are. I'll take a breastfed baby's poopie diaper over the "preschooler-who-refuses-to-potty-train" diaper any day.

2. Milk breath. Also with the introduction of solids comes the loss of that dreamy milk breath -- not to be confused with I-just-spit-up sour milk breath.

3. The inability to move. There is something so comforting about putting the baby down (keeping safety in mind) and there she stays until you come back for her. Once she becomes Mrs. Wriggly Grabby Hands, interested in all around her, those days are done.

4. Falling asleep anywhere. I know the experts frown on this, but the early days of a teeny baby falling asleep on your shoulder are just heavenly.

5. The Swaddle. The swaddle was a life saver for us in the early days. Our spirited baby got frustrated quickly when her brawny limbs were flailing about and the swaddle provided the comfort needed to get her to fall comfortably to sleep. Once she started to get her swarthy self out of her wrap, I really missed the swaddle magic.

6. The Romance. "Oh look honey, we made a baby and isn't she just the most spectacular thing?" Sure, that still occurs to us more than two years later, but once the novelty is erased by the need for sleep schedules (and desperate need for sleep in general) you kind of miss the innocence of new parenthood.

What do you miss about newborns?