Dewey

The DragonMonkey is a beautiful child.

I know I’m his mother and that I’m biased, but it’s the truth. Whenever we go out in public we get swarmed.

He’s so gorgeous!

Look at his eyes!

What a beautiful child!

What a handsome little man!

He should be a model!

It’s been that way since he was a baby.

Lately, we’ve even been hearing, “He looks just like that kid from Sixth Sense!”

While I’m proud of my son, I wouldn’t care how he rates in other’s eyes….

Except now I have a Squidgelet.

When I go out in public, I don’t hear the same oohs and aahs.

I hear things like, “Wow, what a healthy-looking baby!”

“He’s definitely alert!”

“He looks solid!”

The Squidgelet is a peaceful baby, and I have to tell you— that is a WELCOME addition to this household after the past two years of terror that the DragonMonkey inflicted upon us.

Squidgelet is totally content to just hang out. He enjoys being held, but if you need to put him down, that’s okay.

He’s an incredibly smiley baby, too.

He started laughing at 6 weeks old and hasn’t stopped since.

It doesn’t take much to make him happy. As long as he’s not hungry or wet, he’s happy. In fact, on a regular basis I’ll walk into the room and see him propped up in his swing, laughing his little heart out.

At nothing.

It’s kind of disconcerting, actually. What in the world is so funny about a wall? Or a door jam?

I used to wonder about it, until someone snapped this photo of the Squidgelet:

And that’s when it clicked:


Aaaaaaah. Now I get it.

I gave birth to a little, bitty, reincarnated Dewey from Malcolm in the Middle.

Mawwiage

“Ooooh, yeeeeeaaaaaahh….” The Bean groans, head tilted back, eyes closed.

In front of us, the hotel tv blares out the jumbled words of a late-night comedian, but neither of us is paying attention.

“Right there?” I whisper softly.

“MMMMMMMMMmmMMM!” He groans loudly in response, and the baby stirs slightly in his swing beside the bed.

“Shhhhh!” I caution, hands still moving.

“Sorry, sorry,” he whispers back. “It just feels so good.”

“It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

There’s a small pause, and then the relative quiet of the room is broken again with another moan.

“OH, YEAH, Becky… YEAH… MMMMmmm!”

I wince at the sudden noise and glance worriedly over at the baby, but this time the Squidgelet doesn’t even stir.

“Mmmmmmm…” The Bean makes another pleased noise, and I take a moment to wonder whether our neighbors can hear us. The hotel is booked solid after all.

Screw it. It’s my anniversary weekend. Neighbors be damned. If they didn’t want to hear us then they should have booked in one of Bakersfield’s better hotels.

“Are you ready?” I run my hands over him, poised.

“Oh, yes,” he whispers back, eyes closed in anticipation.


CRACK!

“MMMmmmm!” The Bean groans again, lips curving into a smile as I finish cracking one of his toes.

“That was a good one!” I give his foot a small rub, then move onto his right foot. “Ready?” My fingers hover over his pinky toe, ready to pull.

“YEAH, baby. I’m ready. Do it!”

CRACK!

“Wow! MMmmmm. Crack the next toe!” he begs, wiggling his foot enticingly.

Hey, maybe they don’t make dirty movies about moments in marriage such as this, but it’s the little things that keep a relationship alive. Mawwiage. That bwessed awangement. That dweam, within a dweam….

Two babies. Three years. Forty bazillion toe crackings and “Bean, do you know where I put my cell phone?“s later, life is good.