More thoughts (with alas, no creative title)

The rest of the world continues to go about its business (protests in Wisconsin! Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa!), and my focus continues to remain right here in my little one-bedroom corner of the world. It's amazing how much little details and mundane tasks have taken on such importance. My days are full of repetition: feeding, changing diapers, pacing the floor while bouncing the little boy on my shoulder. I tend to say the same things over and over too; exclamations when he lifts his head during "tummy time", outpourings of affection when he smiles at me, words of reassurance when he cries.

Sometimes I wonder if my intellect is being dulled by all this repetition, and sometimes I think I'm getting to some higher plane - getting to some greater meaning by seeing past the mundane. Or maybe I'm just being a mom to my son. Whatevs.

A few scattered thoughts I've had in recent weeks:

* Oh wow, breastfeeding is nature's way of forcing you to bond with your baby. As a breastfeeding mother you cannot be apart from your child for more than a couple hours. The two of you spend hours - literally - each day in close physical contact. How did I never realize this before? Incredible. I love nature and all the ways it makes us do the right things.

* If you are riding in a cab and your baby lets out a loud, squirty fart, how can you make sure the cabbie knows that the noise didn't come from you?

* If you constantly call your child one name or another from a long list of nicknames (Nilsie, Nilsie Q, Q, Squirmy Squirms, Squirms, Sweet Pea, Sweetie Sweets, Cutie Petootie, Cutie Petoots, Petoots, Toots, Drools Verne, Smiler, Little Guy, etc.), how long will it take him to realize that his actual name is Nils?

* Being a parent has made me realize that there is no one way to do anything. People are so passionate about so many things (Formula is wrong! A baby must sleep on its back! Let the baby tell you when it's time to eat, not the other way around! For proper bonding to occur, it is crucial that the mother and baby room together in the hospital - no nurseries, please!)... yet when my own mother had her babies, the rules were all different. She was told to do things so much differently, and my brother and I turned out just fine. I'm going to follow most of the "rules" as they are written now, and my kids will turn out just fine. As far as I'm concerned though, people can do whatever they want with their kids. If the rules are just going to change again in 30 years, who am I to say who's right and who's wrong?

* I can't believe how much attention Nils and I get when we go out in public! Or more accurately, Nils and that random, uninteresting lady who is carrying him. People love little babies. I get tons of comments, and often notice people sneaking glimpses at him out of the corners of their eyes.

* You know, given enough diapers and clothing changes, and a willingness to breastfeed in public, there's really no limit to how long we can be out and about. Good lord, we FLEW to Wisconsin the other week, just the two of us. If we can do that we can do anything.