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Growing New Dreams Growing New DreamsWhee! New babies all over the place! A couple of old choir friends just had their first last week, a bouncing baby boy. I know that he's a bouncing baby because his father always bounced like mad when he sang. It's is also a relief for everyone because baby Hunter's mother was always so tiny and thin, but all appears to be well. Lucky little Hunter is blessed with parents from Education backgrounds, and both are musically inclined, so I'm sure he will be bright and musical, a talented little one taking after his parents. Not even a day later, little Lillian was born, a beautiful baby girl for two friends from high school. I've know her mother (Nanny) since Junior High when we used to be in musicals and choirs together, and we were a part of a small a cappella group in High School. She went away to school in England for years after she graduated. Herbert was one of my good friends in High School, someone who was always there when I needed him. Nanny and Herbert were in the same large group of friends in high school but had never really spoken to each other. When Nanny came back from England she went to a party that Herbert was at too and it was love at second sight. A wedding soon followed, and now, little Lillian. It was amazing how when I was first told that they were dating, it was like something clicked in my mind and shouted Perfect! It's fantastic to see two such awesome people so happy together. The thought of two new babies takes me back to the summer of 2002 when two of my friends were both nearing their due dates. Kristian and her fianc� eagerly awaited their first child. While Rider, soon to be a single mom, waited with trepidation, with many struggles behind her and many more lying ahead. It was a race to the finish. Rider was due sooner, but Kristian had some complications. She planned for a C-section, then rescheduled the date. We waited anxiously, knowing that it would be soon but not knowing if Rider's baby would come first or Kristian's. Kristian's baby came a short half-day after Rider's. Kristian and baby Droolia were surrounded by friends, each one eager to meet the first new baby of the choir group. I hung back, letting the others get their fill of new baby, knowing that it would be crowded and hectic and that others were closer to Kristian than I. It was months before I first held Droolia, not being aggressive or loud about my desire to meet her. By the time I first held her, Droolia was already demonstrating her love of red and I was wearing a shirt with sparkly red writing on it. She was enthralled and kept coming back to poke and scratch at it with her little sausage fingers. She's a beautiful child with a contagious smile and bright sparkling eyes. You can tell already that this little Diva is going to grow up to be a thinker, you can actually watch her think as she learns each new task. Rider, Bear's sister, was the first to have her water break, and into the hospital she went. To wait, and wait and wait. Finally, she was induced and the real waiting began. After work Bear and I rushed to the hospital, carefully following our instructions to Rider's unlisted room, when we were intercepted by Immy. The baby would be here any minute! We fidgeted anxiously in the waiting room, knowing that new lives were beginning all around us every moment, and that one moment soon, that new little life would be a part of ours. The door banged open and there stood Momma (Bear and Rider's mom). "Come in! Come see! It's a baby girl!" she cried, almost sprinting down the hallway, brushing tears from her eyes, laughing and crying at the same time. Mort (Bear and Rider's dad) was in the hall outside the room with a small video camera clutched in his hand. "Amazing!", he beamed, bursting with pride for his daughter and new granddaughter, then strode off down the hall to video the new little one. We rushed into the room and to Rider's side. Immy immediately hugged her as I studied her face. She looked tired and happy and anxious and scared all at the same time. Her legs shook uncontrollably and tears stood unshed in her eyes. Bear hugged her and she started to cry "Oh Bear, she's so beautiful". Too new to the family to intrude, I studied the tile floor, tracing the cold squares with my eyes, trying not to notice the freshly mopped area, the blood and fluids missed by the hasty mopping job. When they had composed themselves it was my turn. I gently put my arms around her, avoiding the tubes and careful of her fragile strength, whispering congratulations in her ear. Soon we were down the hall, standing around a tiny red-faced creature with soft skin and gently kicking legs who was lying on a soft while cloth. Her hands were balled into tiny fists and her eyes squeezed shut for all they were worth. Every few minutes a monitor would beep loudly and we would all jump, terrified that there was something wrong with this frail creature. A nurse would wander over, casually smack the reset button, and the tension would gradually drain out of us. Every so often the babe would give a small whimpering cry and pump her tiny fists in the air, kicking for all she was worth; complaining at the indignity of being wrenched from her comforting home inside Rider to lie cold and naked, surrounded by strangers and loud noises, away from the gentle lub-dub of her mother's heart. Little did she realize that every breath we watched her take, every movement, every cry, every wriggle was a wriggle deeper into our hearts. We couldn't help but fall in love with her, and wonder at the magic and beauty of life, that an entire human adult can grow from such a tiny thing, and that tiny adult replica had in turn grown from the tiniest parts of a human being. A proud Uncle Bear introduced me to Ceilie as "Auntie Canoegirl". I really wasn't sure what to make of this. I was scared that if things didn't work out with Bear and I that Ceilie would be confused by losing an "Auntie". I wasn't sure that I was close enough to Rider and the rest of the family to be an Auntie. Then I found out that they were also calling Rider's husky dog "Auntie". I felt a bit better about my role as aunt and promptly went out to buy her a blue (NOT pink) fleece baby-in-a-bag outfit. Now Ceilie is 16 month old and she wakes up running. She's bold and adventurous and curious about everything. The farm is her personal playground and she has fallen on and tasted every inch of the yard. She moves through the world and through our hearts like a miniature tornado, destroying all obstacles. She's learning to talk and she identifies everything. When I arrive she runs up with arms spread and demands "up". I pick her up and cuddle her close as she plays with my necklace, softly crooning "prree" (as close as she gets to saying pretty). After a few moments, she pushes away and demands "up" (which also means down). I set her down and she runs off laughing, clutching another piece of my heart in those chubby fingers. I found out last night that my friend Peaches is expecting. That's such a great word: expecting. It encompasses all of the hopes and wishes and dreams that a new mother and father pour into the unborn child. Each dream feeding their image of the child, growing as that tiny life grows. Well, I hope and wish and dream all of the best for these 5 new little lives: health and wealth and love and happiness and all that their parents dream for them to be! 2003-10-20 || 2:18 p.m. |
