Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Of Babies and Monkeys and Old Folks

Babies...I don't really see the draw. These tiny humans are as cute as hairless, drooling, incontinent beings can be I guess but really, I don't get it.

I've never been a baby person, in the general sense. I'm not the person aching to hold every new baby I see and I often struggle to find something complimentary to say to new mothers about their squishy, wrinkly infant. All babies are precious and gifts from God but seriously, most of them look like monkeys or old folks for the first month or longer. Mine did.

Dude looked like Red Buttons for the first six weeks then he transformed into George Dzundza. Crafty was a monkey for almost two months before she became Jessica Tandy and Mischief started as Ben Kingsley and stayed that way until he finally grew some hair around the six month mark. Happily this phase doesn't last forever. Just about the time they begin to look human and cute they also begin to develop some skills.

This is when I like them! Maybe it was the sleep deprivation and the day to day chaos of being a new mom but I don't have a lot of clear memories of my own kids at this age but as an aunt, I am having a blast with my niece.

She's almost three now (that's a whole different ball game!) but for the past two years or so she has been a riot! Bizzy (a reference to her bizarre sense of humour and her dizzy dance skills) is a quirky little kid with a great sense of humour and she has quickly learned the art of teasing. She is random and hilarious and she says I'm her favourite.

I love watching her as she experiences everything for the first time, develops her own sense of self and forms opinions on the world she sees. She is fiercely independent, sassy and clever. And to top it all off, she has a New York accent, go figure!

So, Baby-lovers, you can keep your drooling, floppy, old monkey-babies...give me the beast known as The Toddler!
:-)

1 comment:

alt&rockin'4ever said...

Some days (not today, remarkably) I WOULD give you my beast of a toddler! ; P