October 19, 2006

Thursday morning, 7 AM

Lying beside you, my arm wrapped over and around and then tucked under your downside hip, I marvel, both at how large this tiny part of you has become and at how small it still is.

My thumb finds your spine and wanders up and down and back and forth feeling the hard, pointy edges of your bones. I picture your spine not as a pearl necklace or any other poetic device, but as a line of vertebra after vertebra curling gently from your soft, sweet neck to your boogie hips. I imagine each butterfly of bone that was so perfectly formed while you swam under my own spine.

You sleep, and as you sleep you snort and choke and snore, oh how you snore. I am desperate to intervene, to help, to calm, to cure, but instead I lie still. I lie still because for now, you sleep, and for now, that is good enough.

Posted by Beth at October 19, 2006 07:44 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Get better, Baby Girl.

Posted by: JuJuBee at October 19, 2006 08:49 AM

Oh, a baby with a cold is such a sad sound! I hope she's making a quick recovery.

Does she only snore when she's ill or is it a talent she picked up from her dad?

Posted by: Betti at October 19, 2006 08:49 AM

Awwww...time for a sleep-over with my own babies.

Posted by: Kelly at October 19, 2006 10:09 AM

That was so well written.

Posted by: Jodie at October 19, 2006 10:11 AM

It is amazing those little bodies our bodies made isn't it?

Posted by: Tuesday at October 19, 2006 10:32 AM

I love those moments.
Hope everyone is better soon!

Posted by: Molly at October 19, 2006 10:53 AM

Beautiful. Feel better Mia Bean!

Posted by: Maribeth at October 19, 2006 12:49 PM

:(

Posted by: kara at October 19, 2006 12:55 PM

There's nothing sadder then a sick little one. Great post.

Posted by: Jonathon at October 19, 2006 01:09 PM

Been there... SO many times, I hate even to count.

Posted by: Bethany at October 19, 2006 04:19 PM

I hate it when they're sick. Even my big girls become babies again. Just imagine 93 lbs of girl on a lap.

Posted by: ann adams at October 19, 2006 04:40 PM

Such a wonderful post. As a grandmother I am amazed to see my daughter flash out in the powerhouse little grandson. He is so unlike her and yet completely a reflection of her as well. I can see his father in him also, but it is the baby I memorized that I recognize in his movements, gestures and expressions.

Posted by: Gillian at October 19, 2006 05:53 PM

I feel like I should be whispering this post! I hope you all feel better soon.

Posted by: Sparkle Pants at October 19, 2006 07:42 PM

Stunning, Beth. A stunning piece of writing. I can totally relate. Thank you for expressing so poignantly and beautifully what I so often think about abstractly.

Posted by: haley-o at October 20, 2006 01:02 AM

Poor darlings - the three of you. I hope Mia feels better soon.

Posted by: Kelly at October 20, 2006 09:27 AM

So nice, and so well said. Get better soon, little Mia Bean.

Posted by: Kate the Shrew at October 20, 2006 10:46 AM