This morning I crept into Thomas’ room at about 8:15. I knew he was tired, but time was ticking and preschool waits for no one. He was still sound asleep which is unusual. Typically, he is the one creeping into my room, carrying a blankie (or two) and a dinosaur (or twelve) and shyly asking, “Can I snuggle?” (By the way, the answer is always yes, unless it is before 7:30 in the morning…)
Anyway, today he was the sleepy head and I was wide awake from my race with garbage truck. (I won! Yay me!!)
I perched on the edge of his bed and gently rubbed his back. “Sweetie, it’s time to wake up now… How are you feeling?” He instinctively screwed up his face and shoved one arm into the air over his head while arching his back and stretching his legs, and took my breath away. For that split second, he was my newborn son. When I was pregnant with him, we joked that I was his personal bo-flex machine. He would lodge his feet against my lower ribs and stretch. It was painful and funny at the same time, distorting my belly from round to angular and lopsided…
One of the first days home with him, I remember standing over him watching him go from sleeping to awake. He stretched. And I gasped. That pushing that I had felt from within so many times was perfectly recognizable. He was waking up… It is one of those little snapshot memories that I will carry with me always. Watching him do what I had felt him do so many times before… And now today, I was once again transported back in time. He was for an instant my tiny little 5 pound baby. Stretching against my ribs and stirring to face the day.
11 Comments, Comment or Ping
I am sap. Complete. Know how I know? Because that made me cry. So sweet friend, truly.
Oh my word he was darn cute back then. Still is, but tiny Thomas was adorable.
February 19th, 2010
That is so beautiful. Its amazing how no matter how big they get, shen they sleep you can see that little baby.
February 19th, 2010
Ok chica. I am all overfilled with hormones and you throw this out into the Internets? come on now, must you make me cry while I am surrounded by this boys I work with?
I know I complain about the pains of pregnancy and that I will one day soon miss them terribly, and that wishing it all to hurry up and finish will be regretted (sorta). This is a good reminder to me to stop and try to recognize what is really happening inside there. I realize there is a baby, but I still think it’s about 4 inches long and doing somersaults, but in reality that is likely a foot or a butt I feel in my ribs right now while at the same time getting punched DOWN THERE, so clearly something more than 4 inches is doing this to me.
I’m very grateful to my girlfriends who have gone before me, to remind me of the miracle that is happening and the memories about to be made. (and to use my camera OFTEN!) … I’ll just try not to think about the projectile puke and constant colds/flu at the moment.
February 19th, 2010
Oooooh, what a sweet memory, and so well articulated!
February 19th, 2010
Lovely post, thank you.
February 20th, 2010
So sweet!
February 20th, 2010
Great memory and such a CUTE picture!
February 20th, 2010
Oh Liz, what a wonderful memory. **Wiping away tears now**
February 23rd, 2010
Oh gosh that’s sweet. Lovely post.
February 25th, 2010
Awww, I love those glimpses. Speaking of…Autumn got in the car today and she said look at these pics I found! Pics from the 2nd grade. Sigh. I miss that little kid.
I miss baby T who would sleep on our chests. Sigh
March 1st, 2010
This post made me feel all squishy inside. Those glimpses we get are amazing. My mom said one time she was dozing in the back seat of the car while my grandma and great aunt were in the front, chatting. My mom was in her 50s at the time. My grandma looked back and said, “Oh Flo, look at her. She looks just like she did as a baby.”
So I guess it never goes away.
I love that you can recognize that he was doing this SAME thing even before he was born. What a sweet little one he is.
March 22nd, 2010
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