Trust
One of the truly amazing things about raising a child is witnessing them develop so many basic behaviours. Over the last few weeks, Shula’s been learning to trust. It’s easiest to see when it comes to feeding time. As a newborn, Shula would cry when hungry and nothing could stop her except a nipple in the mouth (or a finger, but that didn’t last long if she were really hungry). Now, at 2.5 months, her cry has changed to a distinct “I’m hungry” signal and she’s started to learn that we can understand the message.
When we “get it”, she stops fussing and patiently waits a hand-off to Ema (that’s Hebrew for “mom” and pronounced “ee-mah”). She anticipates meal time and trusts us to do the right thing. If we screw up, she lets us know by crying as if she just received word the world was ending. This usually happens when ema is already holding Shula and she gives subtle hunger signs. If Ema attempts to hand her off or do something else first, the big cry hits.
It always hurts at least a little bit when your baby cries, but it’s worse when you know you’re to blame. (Although, sometimes those little tricksters are incredibly subtle…) As bad as it gets, though, every crisis has a happy ending with a well-fed baby and relieved mother.