"We all need that person, someone who sees our light. The one who reflects our light back at us so we can see it too."
- Janet Lansbury via positive-parents.org

So beautifully written. So very true. But is it restricted to the role of parent? I also think of you when I read this. And I hope and strive to be that person for my baby.

the gate of the year

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

laziness returns, yet again

I've been lazy with the (baby) blogging recently - the perpetual story of my life. Hopefully I'll return to it. But in the meantime, I wanted to remember this article. It is so beautiful, a beautiful reminder.

living for now

My favourite part of the day is in the morning, when Baby has woken up and is making noises in his cot and I'm just waking up and getting ready to get out of bed to begin the day. I'm not sure what he's thinking or what he's up to, but the moment I peer into his cot he stops his fussing and looks up at me and smiles his gorgeous smile - that moment is pure joy for me. Of course he actually smiles at any one of us who looks into his cot - he's just happy to see a familiar face after so many hours on his own. But nevertheless, even though that smile isn't reserved just for me, I can't imagine a more beautiful way to start my day. I don't know how long it will last, but I treasure every morning that I wake up to his beautiful smile.

In the core of my Heart my love for you knows no limits.

~ Rumi

"you can do it"

I say this all the time at the moment to Baby, but I've just read that this can potentially set Baby up to believe that he will disappoint me by saying this, and on reflection I can see how this is true. One more phrase for me to catch and rephrase before it leaves my lips.

I've read articles in the past, and still am reading them, about things you should and shouldn't say to your child. It's easy to stay away from being negative, the hard part is knowing how to say positive things the 'right' way. There are so many things that I say naturally with the intention of trying to be positive and encouraging, but I know a lot of them do more harm than good. I guess I hope that by noting them down as I find them, I'll be more mindful of them and more careful about the words I use to support and encourage Baby.

routine

They say babies love routine, and this suits me just fine because I absolutely adore routine. In fact, I love routine so much that I don't actually look forward to a holiday because going away on holiday means my very predictable weekday and weekend routines will be disrupted. It's only when I'm in the car/plane/train travelling to my destination that I begin to let go of my usual routine and enjoy the fact that I am on holiday.

Because babies are born into a brand new world where everything is unknown and new, babies benefit from a routine as it makes their surroundings more manageable, so they can absorb and learn. It's only really now, at around 3 months that I finally feel that Baby and I have settled into a comfortable routine. Perhaps we would have settled down earlier if I hadn't had all those breastfeeding problems, or if I'd given up on breastfeeding earlier, but that's neither here nor there, I'm glad we have one now. So these days when Baby is awake (that is when he isn't feeding or napping), the mornings we spend chatting to each other, the afternoons I try to help him learn to play by himself, and the evenings I sing some songs to him or read him a story to keep him awake and calm before bed time. It doesn't sound like much, but I'm always amazed at how quickly the day has flown by when I'm singing to him at night preparing him for bed. And I hope that Baby finds as much comfort in this routine as I do.