Best Feeling Ever
Every morning I tiptoe into the babies room around 6:30 a.m. to see who might be awake first to give them their morning feeding. Lately TheMonk has been awake and Swee’Pea (who is more and more like her mother every day) continues to sleep away.
I pull TheMonk out and go about changing and feeding him. These moments of one-on-one time are few and far between and I enjoy them immensely. We’ll talk and coo and laugh and gaze at each other while TheMonk eats. Since he’s been sleeping longer periods he’s no longer grumpy in the morning. Instead he’s full of energy and smiles. Once he’s done I still have another baby to feed so I put him back in his crib and let him sleep a bit longer.
I then go over to Swee’Pea’s crib. Sometimes she is stirring at this point but many times she’s not. To gently wake her I put my hand on her tiny chest and whisper, “Briaaaannnna, your Daddy is here. Good morning little girl. It’s time to wake up.” She hears the sound of my voice and while she refuses to open her eyes, she breaks out into a great big smile (Okay, so maybe she’s not so much like her mother after all). This smile melts my heart.
I scoop her up and take her into the next room to change her. While I’m changing her diaper she has still yet to open her eyes. I continue to speak to her. “Good morning, Sweetie! Are you ready for breakfast my little one?” About this time she opens her eyes. She blinks a few times and then focuses on my face. Our eyes lock and we gaze in each other eyes – me with a small bemused smile that makes my eyes twinkle and her with a sense of wonder. I smile wider and her wonder grows to something that can’t be described any other way than a pure expression of love. It is then that she breaks out into the largest, brightest smile a Daddy could ever hope for. The room absolutely glows from the radiance of this special smile that’s just for me. We spend a moment smiling and talking but it’s breakfast time so I gather her up to get ready to feed her.
She laughs as I scoop her up and I rain kisses on her chubby cheeks. She rests her head on my shoulder as I take her into our loft area where breakfast occurs. On our way out she often finds one of my fingers and wraps her tiny fingers around mine. I settle her into my lap and give her the bottle. No one else is up at this time and the early morning silence of the room combined with the loving gaze we give each other while she eats makes me feel closer to her than at any other time.
It’s just Swee’Pea and her Daddy and no one else.
What more could a guy ask for?
15 Comments
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Very sweet. I hope we will get twins the next time we have kids. My wife gets scared when I mention this but I think it would be nice. Very busy but nice.
AD
Comment by AdventureDad — September 28, 2005 @ 12:17 am
There’s just something about a Daddy and his daughter isn’t there? So sweet…
Comment by Amy — September 28, 2005 @ 1:11 am
Its moments like that, which make us go through all the stress, sleep deprivation, crying, pooing, snotting, puking…..
It’s also those moments that you remember in a couple of years when you say “lets have another baby – they’re so sweet, not like the nasty screaming toddlers we have to put up with now”.
Comment by Mrs Aginoth — September 28, 2005 @ 2:46 am
You are a good dad, Matthew. So good you can savor these moments. Very sweet indeed.
But, you don’t actually WAKE a sleeping baby, do you? Not really…
Comment by Mary — September 28, 2005 @ 4:47 am
Mary: Haven’t you been paying attention?! There’s a schedule to keep up! Both babies have to eat within a reasonably close time to keep up the schedule – otherwise we’d be feeding babies all day long. Not a pretty sight. If it were one baby, I’d say yes let it sleep but we have to keep them on the same schedule or we’d go crazy. After the feeding they go back down for a nap so it’s not a big deal.
Comment by Matthew — September 28, 2005 @ 6:29 am
I especially like reading your blog at times when I am full of anxiety about what its going to be like to be the parents of twins (we are due in March). You have a great attitude and great approach and its reassuring to know that other people have figured this out (and therefore I will be able to as well, right?!)
Comment by Finlay — September 28, 2005 @ 7:48 am
Good job, baby boy! Love grandmother
Comment by Grandomother — September 28, 2005 @ 12:31 pm
Oh, man! You’re gonna make an old fart like me pop a tear!
Comment by Becky — September 28, 2005 @ 1:27 pm
Awww…. this makes me miss being daddys little girl…
Comment by hayfever — September 28, 2005 @ 1:43 pm
Posts like this should come with a ‘get the tissues’ warning.
If you will excuse me, I’m going to go call MY daddy now . . .
Comment by Susan — September 28, 2005 @ 5:49 pm
Please, get more graphic about the diaper changing and complain about sleep deprivation again. Stories like this make me want to tell my wife we should have another baby…or two.
Comment by Clare's Dad — September 28, 2005 @ 7:42 pm
So, so sweet. And so wonderful that this post will be around to read in the future.
Comment by Kari — September 28, 2005 @ 8:35 pm
You’re right: I haven’t been paying attention well enough! Now I’m curious about how this works, never having done it with quite the method that you need for twins. If they’re both sleeping, do you wake them at the scheduled time, or wait till one wakes, and then wake the other, thus extending the gaps between feeds?
Comment by Mary — September 29, 2005 @ 4:58 am
I LOVE greeting the kids in the morning. They’re just so happy to see you!
Comment by MIM — September 29, 2005 @ 9:59 pm
Sigh. I miss those quiet blissful days, but I wouldn’t trade what I have now for anything (I say as Lauren beats out a tune on the computer tower).
Comment by ieatcrayonz — September 30, 2005 @ 3:51 pm