Borrowing Babies

 Babies are on my list of favourite things.  Whenever I'm around friends with babies, I'm typically holding one.  After having two very demanding infants, I have become very talented at calming down babies.  I'm also extra-sensitive to the stressed-out, touched-out mama and love to give them a break.

 Tonight Veronica, Baby M, J and I walked to Starbucks.  It is a beautiful night and we all experienced stress today.  There's nothing quite like an evening walk with friends to get a delicious frozen coffee beverage.  It was quite calming. While we were there, Baby M woke up grumpy.  He wasn't really hungry, just fussy.  His mama had a challenging day, so I swiped him.  It was wonderful!  On the way home, he became fussy again so I held him for awhile in my special "Auntie Gracie" hold.  He loves it when I hold him on his tummy, but won't calm down for either of his parents in the same position.  This makes me feel very special.  It also brings back memories of a little girl who would not stop screaming until I held her in that postion while pacing the floor and singing.  I'm thankful not just for a special touch, but for my own children who have taught me empathy and forced me to learn advanced comfort measures for babies. :)