weird. weird. weird.
During one of Gianna’s well- baby visits (months and months ago) we happened to meet another mommy and daughter. The daughter, at least 2 years old, was sitting on the mommy’s lap and with her head on her mommy’s chest had her hand up to her mommy’s eyebrow and was twirling it. The mommy laughed (clearly the look on my face gave away my thoughts) and said, as though this was a totally normal habit, “Yea, she started doing it as a baby while she nursed and now she does it everytime she’s tired.”
Weird. Weird. Weird.
Today I started to actually laugh, out loud, which incited giggles from Gianna, when I remembered this.
At the time we were in our rocking chair and Gianna was in that place that every mother knows well; that place where your baby is not quite sleeping but not really awake. That place where you would rather ignore that itch on your eyelid for 35 irritatingly long minutes than risk moving a single finger which could then start baby’s falling asleep cycle all over again. At the time Gianna had one hand down my shirt and under my boob and the other hand had a finger up my nose. No you didn’t read that incorrectly. Go ahead, read it again. Done laughing? Yes, yes, really, under my boob and in my nose.
Seriously, this is a common occurrence during our rocking to sleep cycle. (I know I shouldn’t be rocking her at all, but that is not the topic here. Focus people.) The cycle goes a little something like this: Read a story, drink our bottle, sing a few songs, Gianna turns towards me, rock some more, Gianna turns to her other side, rock some more, hand finds its way tucked under the boob, rock some more, Gianna sees my face and either sticks a finger in my mouth, up my nose, or picks at a beauty mark on my chin, rock some more, eyes go back and forth and shut. (That was the short version.)
James said that when he is putting her to sleep she sticks her hand down the top of his shirt too. This leads me to believe it has to more with feeling our heartbeat than some weird boobie fetish. (Let me believe what I want, ok?) But the need to stick a finger in a facial orface? Perplexing to say the least.
Can’t you just see me now? I’m sitting in the waiting room of Gianna’s pediatrician ready for her 2 year check up. She’s fussy so I decide to let her rock in my lap while we wait- hand under boob, finger in nose.
Weird. Weird. Weird.
Of course I don’t just sit there with her finger in my nose. I usually let her do it for a few seconds, waiting to see if I don’t react maybe she will get bored. Inevitably though, I just can’t stand it so I move her hand and she gets all personally offended that I dared to move during “that place” and starts to cry. We start all over…
It’s amazing what we’ll tolerate for soothing and any chance of sleep, isn’t it? My baby likes his earlobe rubbed. He relaxes immediately. Weird. Weird. Weird.
HAHAHA!! You Marcellino Girls are…you guessed it…WEIRD!! Ummm…when you say that you guys have your bottle, is yours a nice Sangiovese?
Haha! Another nice visual! Funny girl…
Too bad we don’t share the same pediatrician anymore. Dub & I would’ve gotten a kick out of this one!
I can remember being in the supermarket and trying to keep hands out of my shirt. And the anger when you ddidn’t allow it, such an affront. Which, now that I think about it, stems from letting them do it in the first place. If you were one of those parents who never allow it, or stopped it on the first infraction, it wouldn’t have gotten this far. Where they look at you like you’re nuts when you don’t let them. But then again, maybe they are learning something. Yeah, no.