My Good Baby

It's 5:52am on Saturday morning and I'm awake nursing my "good" baby. I am absolutely positively sure that he is a good baby, if not one of two of the best babies (the other one being Jack) but I use the word good in quotation marks because it's something I always think about. So often I get asked (& I've even made the mistake of asking!) if my baby is a "good baby." It's a weird question, right? All babies are good! (Actually Johnny and I just started watching a new show, Call The Midwife, and after two seasons of that I am even more in love with babies, if you can believe that!) So when people meet Liam and then promptly ask, "Is he a good baby?" it always puts me off a bit. Mostly because what people want to hear is that this little tiny baby is sleeping through the night (no), rarely fussy (yes), eating on a schedule (no...I don't think we would have the amazing weight gain that we did if the poor guy was on a restrictive schedule), etc. 

I've been so blessed with both of my babies because in so many ways they fall into the conventional "good baby" category. I'm also blessed because I'm pretty realistic about what babies need. They need to eat. Often. Because they are growing, a lot, if you are doing your job. They like to be held (close to your heart) because they were your best bud for 9ish months and they got used to that. It's nice to be in someone's arms, especially if that someone is your mama, who loves you more than anything else in the world. They want clean diapers every hour or two or twenty minutes because who would want to sit in poop? Not me, and not my super smart and logical babies! So when I get woken up at all hours of the night and disturbed all moments of the day I really don't mind (at all) because it all makes sense to me. It also doesn't hurt that babies are impossibly cute and my latest baby Liam really takes cuteness to the next level in my opinion. 

Anyway, back to "good babies." Liam really is a good baby I think. And that is awesome. But I hate to say that because I think it must be so discouraging for every mama out there who gets asked that question and thinks for just a second, or says out loud even, "No, my baby is difficult." Those mamas whose babies don't sleep much at all or who suffer from colic or a million other things, because like all other human beings, babies aren't perfect....they have enough on their plate without worrying about how to answer the "good baby" question. Right? So instead of asking that question, sanitize your hands (it's cold and flu season!) and then just ask politely if you can hold that sweet baby. Give that mama a break (even at 7-10 lbs it can get tiring to hold a baby all the time, especially if what you really want to do is shove some food in your mouth or chug 16 oz. of water!) and tell her what a good baby she has! She'll appreciate it. And you get to hold a baby! Which is pretty much the best thing ever unless that good little baby decides to have a diaper explosion on you. ;)