Favorite Part

Ryan and I were asked what our favorite parts of being parents were, that we weren't expecting.

After some thought, I said that I wasn't expecting to have a little person who would completely LIGHT UP every time I walked into the room. It's the greatest feeling to be unabashedly loved even if you've only been apart for a few minutes. I know this won't last forever but I'm holding on. Similarly, I didn't expect to love breastfeeding as much as I do. I had plenty of dreams about it (usually feeding cats instead of babies) before Foster was born, and I knew I wanted it to go well, but I never thought that I'd look forward to it as much as I do each time. It helps that Foster has always been good about giving me at least 2-3 hours between nursing and even more at night, so I don't think I reached the point of burning out or feeling like a milk cow as quickly as I expected to. Finally, I didn't think I'd like watching him play as much as I do. I thought I'd get bored much faster, and to be honest that was easy to do early on. But now that Foster is learning how to use his hands and explore what's around him it's so fun to watch him learn from or be surprised by things.

Ryan's answer warmed my heart. He said he didn't expect to love changing his diaper as much as he does. It's an amazing time to connect with Foster while at the same time providing him with care that he is far from being able to provide for himself. Ryan was expecting diaper changes to be gross and tedious (don't warn him about how they get harder) and instead it's 5 minutes that he can spend with Foster, talking and playing. For whatever reason Foster is more talkative on the changing pad than anywhere else so it's a great chance to have a little conversation with him. I wonder if that means he'll be the guy on his cell phone in the stall next door in public restrooms.