[JessFinds] On the Night You were Born

Miss Crab's preschool has been requiring a load of parental homework, including lots of pictures. I really don't mind. It has been fun sorting through my iPhotos looking at Miss Crab as a newborn. And because I quit breastfeeding Baby Gonzo about two months ago, I am all sorts of hormonally imbalanced and prone to openly weeping over my wireless keyboard. She is FOUR. She was NEW. How does that happen?

I have the worst yearnings for that tiny, pissed-off yet equally snuggly butterbean that once was Baby Crab. Don't get me wrong, Miss Crab is wonderful and she owns my heart outright, but I do miss the ittiness. She frequently asks me to "tell her about when I was a baby" and so I thought I would share the story here.

"On the night you were born, there was a full moon. It was so big and round and bright. It was hot outside, because it was July. I was so excited to meet you. When I got to my last push, we could hear you yelling on the way out! (You yelled all the time when you were a baby). The midwife reached in to clear out your mouth and exclaimed ... 'she bit me!' That's right, you bit the midwife."

This is where she laughs and injects "I did not bite her, I did not have teeth. I just sucked her."

"Yes, well then you sucked the midwife. And then you were out and you were so tiny and so cute. You had a ton of red hair and big blue eyes. I said "Hey! I know you!" and you were wrapped up in little blankets and given to me. And I have not let go of you since. You made me a mommy."

Miss Crab can recite this story by memory. I can't wait until I get to tell Baby Gonzo her story. It involves a snow storm, her father having an allergic reaction to amoxcillin, a doctor telling me my thighs were like tree trunks AND the joyous discovery that she was over 10 lbs (on the way out).