When I learned that I was having a son, I was apprehensive. I really like little boys (well, most of them), but I was worried that I wouldn’t know what to do with one. I’ve been a mother to girls for a long time, and I know how to relate to them because…well, I was one myself once. But little boys are a mystery to me. I remember asking my husband, on the way home from the ultrasound, “What do you do with a boy? I mean, what do they like?”
Since bringing DJ home, I’ve learned that my little boy is just a tiny version of my husband. He loves to be touched and held, and is content as long as I give him love and attention. Other than that, he asks very little of me. He is by far my easiest baby. My girls were more complicated, and harder to read. Sometimes I had to try many things – rocking, swinging, bouncing, endless walking, nursing, pacifiers – in order to calm them, but DJ is easy. If he’s crying, he wants one of 4 things – food, a new diaper, a nap, or attention. Once, he was very fussy, but I had already nursed him, so I just lifted my shirt and rested his cheek against my stomach. He conked right out.
When I’m in a store, I have so much fun now because there’s all new territory for me to explore. I wander through the toy aisles, looking at the Hot Wheels, the dinosaurs, the Lincoln Logs. I wonder which of these things DJ will like, and I try to picture him as a preschooler, creating elaborate Lego creations. Or as a 3rd grader, riding his bike home from school. I admire the sweet little button-down shirts and khaki pants, the denim jeans, and cute little overalls, and I smile. I can buy these things now, because I have a son.
I have a son.
I no longer worry about what to do with DJ. I know that as long as I love him, that’s enough. And I already love him so, so much.
We’re going to be just fine.
