The Dream

Have you ever had a dream that’s stuck with you throughout the day?  One you just can’t get out of your head?

I need some catharsis, and I think sharing this dream as often as possible is the way to make it happen.

Last night, I dreamed about going to the hospital with my mother.  Because we were both nine months pregnant.  And she was in labor.  (By the way, she was doing a kick-ass job.  When we got there, the nurse checked her, and she was 9 cm.  She hadn’t made a peep.  Go, Mom!)

As Jason said when I woke up and shared said dream, “Father of the Bride 2, eh?”  Sure.  Only…scarier.

In retrospect, it’s hilarious.  During the dreaming…it was a nightmare.  You know how you reason with yourself during dreams?  “Oh, surely this is a dream.  Maybe it isn’t, and then what?”  This time it went a little further.

My internal dialogue:

Oh good lord.  Mom doesn’t have the energy or desire to have another baby.  I know she doesn’t.  What on Earth is she going to do with this baby?  I hope she’s not going to give it to me. I’m about to have another of my own.  I can’t go around with two newborn babies that are uncle and nephew.  What will I say when people ask if they’re twins?  “Oh, no, this one’s mine, but the other is my BROTHER.”  What is going on here?  I can’t ask Mom about this…she’s in labor.  That would be rude.  OMG, what are we going to DO???

Of course, nowhere in there did I realize that (a) there’s no. way. Mom would be pregnant, and (b) there’s no way I would ever be nine months pregnant.  My pregnancies simply don’t last that long.

When I told Mom about the dream, thankfully, she found it as hilarious as I.  She also reminded me that she’d probably be thinking the same thing.  (i.e., Aimee doesn’t want another baby!  I hope she’s not going to give it to me…)

It’s funny how the world around us plays with the subconscious mind, isn’t it?  I do have babies on the brain lately, since a dear friend gave birth last week.  In fact, I got to spend two hours at their home cuddling him while he slept today.

It was highly preferable to being a new mom AND a new big sister at the same time, I can assure you.

Baby Days

As I promised on Twitter last week, I can finally reveal my latest crochet project.  Saturday was the shower for some dear friends, who are due next month with a little girl.  Since I have so few opportunities (that is to say, no opportunities) to dress little girls, I had to go for a garment.

Pattern: Lacy Cardigan by Hilary Mackin, Sue Whiting
from The Big Book of Weekend Crochet
Yarn: Knit Picks Risata
Hook: 3.5mm (E)

I’m very happy with it, although I didn’t find the pattern too easy to read.  I got it done though, and it’s adorable, and that’s the point!  The yarn matches embroidery on the little dress I picked out for her, and it was a dream to work with.  It has some stretch to it, and it created such a nicely-draping fabric.

Today, the baby fun continued when I drove out to meet a good friend from high school and her new baby boy.  She and I had lost touch for a number of years (12!) before we met again at her baby shower this summer.  Talking today, it was like we’d just been hanging out together last week.  Good friends like that don’t come a dime a dozen.

Remember the Sólás Caomh blanket?  That was for Little Baby Thomas:

Babies are so cooperative when they’re napping, aren’t they?  Thomas, like both of my boys, was born prematurely due to preeclampsia.  He is thriving, though, and ate like a little piggy while I was there today.  (And his mommy is doing well now, too.)

He continued napping long enough for us to grab lunch…

…and then woke up to let me capture my favorite photo of the day.  I love the look on Monica’s face.

(How freaking adorable is this baby?!?)  Of course, when Thomas heard about Bench Monday, he got really excited and begged his Mommy to play along.

Nine Years of Little Things

(Catching up on my Words & Pictures.  ‘Little Things’ was Pip’s writing and photo prompt two weeks ago.  The timing was perfect and imperfect.  Perfect, for it was the week of Nicky’s birthday.  Imperfect, because it was the week of our move.  Now, I feel ready to give the subject its due.)

Nine years ago, little things ruled my world.  The central little thing was under two pounds, living down the road in the hospital, breathing with the aid of a CPAP, keeping warm with the aid of an incubator, eating with the aid of a tube through his tiny navel, surrounded by other little things.

Little things, like micro-preemie diapers, the size of my palm, which were still too large for him.  They covered him midway up his chest unless we folded them down.

Little things, like disposable cameras we left by his isolette, always ready to catch a Kodak moment.

Little things, like the hour each day we got to hold him…once he was ten days old and stable enough for holding.

Little things, like the cc’s we would use to measure his food intake for many more months.

Little things, like the bear Juli bought me when I told her I was pregnant – the bear that now fits in the palm of his hand.

Little things, like the cradle my grandfather made for me twenty-five years before, taking its place in a nursery we would put together in between visits to the hospital.

So many little things dominating our new little family.

And now, the little things are  not so physical.  They are the little things a mother notices about her son, when she can go weeks (and sometimes months) without remembering how little the other things used to be.

Little things, like his compassion, his willingness to eat salad, his love of Star Wars, his friendship with his little brother, his trust that everyone tells the truth, his acceptance of the things that make him different and his ability to work around them.

Happy 9th Birthday, my big little man.