Is there anything sweeter than having a baby girl fall asleep in your arms? Spoiler alert: Nope. I will admit that it’s typically not a priority when I’m on deadline. But it is a real treat to lie down with Joy, turn on a repeat of Holy Redeemer Sunday Mass (on YouTube), and watch Joy watch Father Kevin give the homily and sing and offer post-Covid communion (no wine; host is placed in the hands of the faithful who are wearing masks).
Joy’s eyelids become heavy and flutter. Her head falls back onto my arm. And then I hear it: the regular breathing, with just the tiniest snore. I know that in about ten minutes I can (if I want to) safely extricate myself. But often I lie there much longer, until my arm (or my entire body) falls asleep. I look at her sleeping and realize that nothing will happen this week that will bring me greater joy. I wouldn’t change her (or this time together) for anything in the world. But of course we need to change the world for her. For all our kids.
In other news…
Joy is taking steps. Four in a row, sometimes five. And she is growing taller every day. She can reach items on the kitchen table (like a bowl of cereal). She can reach items on my desk (like my dictionary and pencils). She can now open the shower door and exit the shower while still covered in suds. Joy has lots of showers and baths (maybe three a day).
And Joy likes to throw her toys. Her balls, her blocks, her elephant, and the hedgehog. She throws Mother Goose while Mother Goose is talking. Yes Joy is a thrower.
Sometimes I am awakened in the morning because Joy has thrown my smartphone into the side of my head. “Hey!” she says as I rub my temple. I’m not sure if she wants breakfast or just wants me to unlock the phone.
I clean floors every day. I clean the kitchen floor after she throws Cheerios or crackers or hot dog across the room. I clean the carpet when she throws my half-empty/half-full coffee cup on the floor. She threw a can of polyurethane last week, which popped open on impact. That was a mess.
I am home a lot. Maybe too much. I haven’t put gas in my car since early June. I do go to Schnucks once a week. I had been using Instacart, but the prices began to annoy me. Things that are on sale in-store are not on sale on the app. The Instacart shoppers are mostly great, but I don’t like green bananas, and sometimes their substitutions make no sense (tuna salad and broccoli salad are two different things, for example).
We get Amazon deliveries almost every day. (Vaseline, kid cups, and hand soap are arriving tomorrow. Diapers and Cheerios on Thursday. Amy’s Organic Chili on Monday.) We’re even buying clothes online now because “trying it on” is suddenly an antiquated custom. In the post-Covid world, you will get kicked out the bank for NOT wearing a mask.
Joy seems fine with staying home 24/7. She never gets tired of Mom and Dad being home 24/7 either.
Joy Elizabeth 