The Cave People and Puppies

Declan had his 4 month check up today - 4 months!! He's 26.25 inches long and weighs 17 lbs even, 90th percentile for both. I love these check ups... for me, it's almost like a job review, and even though I know being a stay at home mom is an important job and one of the hardest, it's nice to have it validated sometimes by an objective reviewer. Hearing from Dr. Cambria that the boys are thriving and wonderful reminds me that despite the frustrations and lack of brain stimulation that come with the role, that I'm doing an important job and doing it well.

As I write this, Declan is sleeping in our bed, on his side, in the sleep positioner. Five minutes after he went down to sleep (enough time for me to get downstairs and start to unwind) he woke up crying. So I went back upstairs, lay down next to him, and he grabbed for my face with both hands, getting a hold of my nose and my ear. Once he realized he was cuddled up next to me, he settled right down and went back to sleep. And I thought to myself: this is how the cave people must have done it.

See, Javier and I are constantly marveling at the challenges of caring for babies, and when the going gets tough, we say "how on earth did the cave people manage this?" While I lay there tonight with Declan, who was content as could be snuggled into me, I could imagine us as a mom and her baby tens of thousands ago in a cave on our bearskin rug... the Mama Cave Women probably just had their babies cuddled next to them all the time - more like we see animals today. Which then got me thinking... this is how puppies sleep too - all cuddled up to the mother. Anyways, somehow it made it all easier to think of it in these terms, and realize that Declan is just a little baby who needs snuggling and warmth to feel secure, and that it's just such a basic need... no matter the species or the time period.

Now, that sounds all very new age-y to me... a bit too crunchy and holistic, so major disclaimer here: I am so not a proponent of the family bed. (This is so personal and I totally respect people who choose to do it, it's just not for me in the long term.) Because as I lay there thinking about the cave people and puppies, I also realized that the cave people most likely had a much higher infant mortality rate and I have yet to read about a puppy expiring of SIDS. So the practical side of me still can't wait until Declan's sleeping on his own. As my dad likes to say, "snip, snip, snip!"