Sweet Baby James Cooper

September, 2011

    I’ve been a grandmother for three weeks now, thanks to the happy arrival of Baby James Cooper Rydberg.  And with the eminent arrival of Baby Harms in the next few week, after a long and emotionally draining wait, suddenly in the Harms family, it’s raining grandbabies!!  

    So, what does it feel like to be a grandmother?  Well, it’s wonderful.  There’s nothing better than cuddling with a baby, sniffing that sweet baby smell.  I’m thinking that this grandma gig is going to be really great.  

    But...

    When Joe took me in to the recovery room to see Baby James for the first time, it was an amazingly emotional experience.  I was beyond thrilled to meet my new grandson, but it was seeing the joy on Leslie’s face that brought the tears to my eyes.

    When we brought the baby home that first week and he was struggling with breast feeding, I was never concerned about the baby’s weight gain.  Instead, I was worried that Leslie would feel depressed and guilty about not being able to feed her baby in the way she wanted.

    When the baby had trouble sleeping, it was Leslie that I worried about being tired.

    When Leslie checked the baby’s diaper and was worried that his circumsized penis might be infected, I took a peek and offered my opinion.  I thought that everything looked okay, but I was immediately concerned about how tricky it was going to be for Leslie to combine being both a mother and a doctor.

    And when Leslie struggled with trying to decide whether to call her baby Jamie or James, it never occured to me to try to figure out which one he more looked like.  James Cooper is Leslie’s baby to name; I have already named mine.

    Don’t get me wrong.  I am truly enamoured of James Cooper.  I think he is the the most beautiful baby on earth right now, a title he will hold at least until his cousin in born!  I can stare at him for hours and like nothing better than for him to take a nap on my chest.  I love the times when I have him to myself and I can whisper love words in his tiny ear and pretend he is smiling back at me.  I am having a wonderful time wandering through baby stores and picking out cute baby clothes that I would probably have never been able to afford for my own firstborn.  I lay in bed at night and imagine all the fun things Baby James and I are going to do over the years.  

    But...

    When the phone rings and it’s Leslie, I ask first how she’s doing before I ask about James Cooper.  Because, I’ve realized that no matter how old I am, no matter how old Leslie is, she is, and will always be, my baby.

   Just as Baby James Cooper is, and will always be, hers.