to know you are loved

Archie was sad tonight. Earlier during the afternoon we were at Target and he was starting to expire. I picked him up out of his stroller and tried to calm him down. As I was looking at him I noticed a little bit of blood mixed with drool on his chubby cheeks. That pinkish drool also lined the collar of his shirt. We realized his crabiness these past few weeks is probably due to the fact that he is starting to teeth. Poor little guy.

So tonight it was just Archie and me and he was sad again. Often times I get annoyed when he cries so much because it can be pretty tiring. But tonight I knew he may be in pain. Little teeth are making their way through the gum line which can't feel good. I felt compassion for my little one. I took some orajel and tried to rub what I could on his gums as he squirmed around. I just wanted to him to feel comfort. Then I took off his drool-soaked t-shirt and pants since he likes to just be in his diaper. We marched on up to his room and I put a dry diaper on him as his cries were still belting out.

Before he got sad tonight while he was still napping, I was thinking of all the different things I could do with "my" time while he would sit occupied in his jumperoo or chair. But something changed in my heart when he got up from his nap. My baby was in pain and I just wanted to comfort him more than anything else. So, just clothed in his diaper I turned down the light, wrapped one of his snuggliest blankets around him, turned on Bon Iver and we rocked. I didn't rock him to put him to sleep. I rocked him because I wanted him to know, to feel, that he was loved. I held him close and looked at his little slobbery hands on my chest and then would stand him up on my lap and stare into his perfect almond shaped eyes while kissing his cheeks. We rocked and listened to the soft music until it was time for him to go to bed. He was calm and happy and hopefully went to bed with the knowledge of how much he is loved.