In Pursuit of Babbyness

The little man has a lot to screech about, these days. He's got a quite a few things on his mind. On Monday, he started pulling himself up in his playpen and by Wednesday he was starting to walk around the inside of the playpen (slowly and very nervously, but walking, all the same). Today, after a few weeks of crawling backwards, he started going forwards. He's also started singing, which is ultra-cute. He has a husky little voice but he has the beginnings of a tune going on. Music and language in all it's forms holds an endless fascination for him. When I sing his favourite nursery rhyme, Baa Baa Black Sheep, to him, he watches my mouth intently with a little smile on his face, waiting for the last line. One day he'll realise that his bag of wool is not going to arrive and then there'll be trouble! The screeching is temporary. Once he's mastered a skill, he repeats it endlessly, giggling to himself all the while.

There's a point to all this though. Babies have a wonderful lesson for us all to learn. They understand the joy that can be gained from the simple things in life. We call this "Babbyness" and have been trying to incorporate it into our - often mundane and stressful - adult lives. Just a moment lying with Archie on the bed when we're dog-tired (often!) can turn into a touching and life-enriching experience as he shows us yet another little discovery he's made or burrows into mummy's neck for a cuddle or tries to rip off one of Daddy's nipples.
Even typing this makes me want to cry as I picture in my mind his soft little fingers trying to get daddy's watch off his wrist or how he lies on his back between us gurgling and doing his "Iggy Pop" impression, giggling every time he see's us looking at him. He touches our hearts so deeply and at such a primitive level that we know our lives will never, ever be the same again, and although it's scary knowing that he is our responsibility 24/7/365/forever, it all feels right and good. Hooray for Babbyness. It might not solve all the problems in the world today, but in its special way, it's helping us "keep it real" and realise what really matters.