Time Travel

As I very briefly mentioned last week, Jim and I recently became first-time grandparents. Our grandson isn’t even two weeks old yet and I have already said things like “He’s the cutest baby I’ve ever seen” and “He’s a literal angel” and “I’m sure he’s gifted.” We are obsessed with him.

Something that I have read several times is that becoming a grandparent is like a form of time travel because it can feel like you’re able to spend time with your own children as babies again with a whole lot more knowledge and experience this time around. I was excited to see if this was an accurate description, and I’m happy to report that it is!

First, we immediately saw our son in his face when we received the first photos from the delivery room. It was absolutely surreal to see that family resemblance in this brand new baby. Over the next week, other photos revealed a resemblance to his mom (our daughter-in-law), too. The whole thing has made me spend more time thinking about how fascinating genetics is than ever before.

True story.

We excitedly made the nine-hour drive to meet him last Friday, when he was a week old. Holding him and helping care for him in many other ways since then has been mind blowing. The sounds he makes, the way he moves, the way he roots around for milk when he’s hungry (especially when I’m trying to burp him and his rooting feels like little baby kisses on my cheek), all of these things take me back more than thirty years, to the time when I was caring for my own new babies. None of this is bittersweet; it’s pure happiness. Additionally, my confidence with it all is, of course, much higher than it was when I was a new mom, and my stress level is infinitely lower.

I’m greatly anticipating when he is able to smile on purpose (rather than accidentally, because of gas), when he’s able to giggle, and when he’s able to walk and talk. But I’m not rushing things. I’m simply ecstatic to be his Mimi, traveling forward in time with him as he grows. I plan to enjoy every minute of it.