To Be in Love with a Baby

"We're so in love!"

We've all heard it, seen it, or even said it. Someone announces the arrival of a newborn baby and declares, "We're so in love!" This may seem like an exaggeration or a misnomer.  "Love" is different from "in love". You can love someone very much without being in love with the person, and vice versa. Usually, "in love" refers to the all-encompassing emotion a person feels when he has a strong romantic interest in another, especially if it is a relatively new interest.

If, say, a man is in love with a woman, he can't stop thinking about her. He stares at her. He thinks she is beautiful. He sees through rose-colored glasses. All the unpleasantries and flaws she has either go unnoticed or they don't bother him. He'll do anything for her.

It is the same way when you have a new baby. You can't stop thinking about her. You stare at her. You think she is the cutest, most adorable baby to have ever graced this planet. You might notice unpleasantries (e.g., dirty diapers), but you don't care. You're totally enamored by her and you'll do anything for her.

When my girls were babies, they both spit up really bad. At one point, my husband was talking to one of them and said, "I like the smell of spit-up 'cause it means that you're around." The smell of spit-up isn't pleasant. But he was in love.  

Later on, you look back at newborn pictures and suddenly realize that she actually looked a tiny bit like an alien. An adorable alien, but still... And the dirty diapers start to get to you. You don't love your baby any less (if anything, you love her more), but you're not constantly "in love," like you were in the earlier days. But you still have your moments.

Even though Little and Big Sisters are no longer babies, we still have moments when we are so in love with them. We squeal with delight when they're being sweet. We think they are the most adorable little girls. Big asked Little for one of the crayons she was holding, and when Little responded with a firm, "No!", Big wasn't upset. She turned to me and said, "Her 'no' is cute." Then, a few mornings ago, Little woke up after Big did, and I brought her to see her Big Sister before she left for school. Little was in her just-woken-up glory: warm snuggles, messy hair, sleepy eyes, full diaper and all. Big gave her a kiss and said, "I like how she smells." Odd comment considering the circumstances (she had to have smelled that diaper), but...she was in love. One day, Little gathered her shoes and coat and stood by the front door, saying "Sistah" because she was ready to go get her from the bus stop. It was only 10:00 am. She was in love.

When someone says they're in love with their baby, it's not a misnomer. They're just as head-over-heels, stars-in-the-eyes, hopelessly in love with the baby as much as anyone ever was with a romantic interest.