My toddler pretending to be a baby melts my heart
Toddler’s favourite game at the moment is pretending to be a baby.
He lies under a blanket, tucks his legs up into his tummy and closes his eyes as if sleeping, saying “muma, muma” repeatedly. Not to me but to his big sister, who sings him lullabies and kisses him goodnight.
When he gets out of the bath, he likes to be wrapped up in his towel, curl up in my arms and to be rocked from side to side, a sweet smile on his face as he says “bay-bee, bay-bee”.
I think this little game has been inspired by our neighbours having a new baby a couple of weeks ago. Now that Toddler is the grand old age of two and a quarter, he’s a lot more aware of what’s going on in the world, and this is his way of interpreting this new experience.
These beautiful, heart-warming moments bring a real tear to my eye. I love seeing him grow into this funny, independent little character. But him pretending to be a baby – well, it just reminds me even more that he’s not.
As I’ve mentioned before, as grateful as I am for my three wonderful children, I miss my baby days so much.
It’s such a precious time, welcoming a new-born baby into your family, whether that’s your first, second, third, fourth, or whatever. And like I wrote earlier in the week, when you have a super-energetic, strong-willed toddler running all over the place from the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to bed, you can’t help but be wistful for those baby days when they lie in your arms, sleeping and cuddling for hours on end.
That moment when you meet your baby for the first time, and suddenly all those movements you felt inside your tummy can be attributed to an actual person, is so incredible. A tiny person you now have the privilege of getting to know; so pure and innocent and just starting out with their whole life ahead of them.
That super soft skin, those curled up limbs, the tiny toes and fingers, and the smallest of nappies. Instantly knowing you’d do anything to protect them. Special times, indeed.
And as I see my newest neighbour’s teeny tiny babygrows and baby vests all neatly lined up to dry on their washing line, it brings back so many memories of doing the same.
I have boxes in each of my children’s rooms filled with mementos of their early days – their hospital identity bands, a newspaper from the day they were born, the cards we received, the very first outfits they wore. It amazes me that they were ever that small.
It also amazed me just how much washing a tiny newborn could create! How can someone so small produce so much laundry? Load after load after load. Washed in non-bio and softened with Comfort Pure* so as to protect their delicate skin.
And even though my children are bigger now at 6, 4 and 2 and have grown so much since those early days, they are still the most precious things in my life.
And they still create a lot of dirty washing! That’s one thing that won’t be changing any time soon!
What special memories do you have of caring for your new baby? I’d love it if you would share in the comments below, on the Cardiff Mummy Says Facebook page or you can tweet me on @cardiffmummy
* This post is a collaboration with Comfort Pure to celebrate the launch of Comfort Pure’s new ultra-concentrated format – 38 washes RRP £3.30 or 64 washes RRP £4.89. Incredible softness, with every drop a tiny dose of love. And as there’s less packaging waste, it’s better for the environment too.
I’ve used Comfort Pure fabric softener ever since I first moved out of home aged 18 and went to university. It’s what my mum used on our clothes and given what sensitive skin I have, I don’t trust anything else. On my skin, or my children’s. Because everything I do for them is a tiny dose of love.
I do exactly the same thing with Gus after the bath! He loves it even now and he’s 6! I remember my grandma doing it to me for years too! Lovely post! Xxx
Awww, that’s so cute. Hope that’s something that lasts. My eldest two have sadly gone past that stage 🙁 x
Oh I understand this totally! I miss the baby days so much, a simple smell can take me fly straight back there. My 8 year old can be my baby forever xx
Aw, I know! They will always be our babies. It just flies by though, doesn’t it? They’re such fun little people at the moment but there’s something just so special about the newborn days x
That brought back many memories, especially them playing babies. I have that to look forward to with my grandson. I ask if he’s a baby and he’s says “no! Boy” he’s only 20 months lol
That is so cute that he pretends to be a baby 🙂 Aria has started finding items to cwtch up with and pretend to sleep on, they are so funny! Even though mine is still a baby I do miss those newborn days, they were lovely 🙂
Aww I do exactly the same with Squidge after a bath too! In fact we have a little routine at the moment when I get him out of his highchair – I lay him in my arms and rock him while singing ‘rock aby baby’ – when I puthim down he says ‘more! bay-bee’ and we do it again 🙂 I miss him being a baby so much, but I adore who he is now and wouldn’t change any of it for the world 🙂 For what it’s worth we use Comfort Pure with Squidge too and love it 🙂 So soft and smells lovely 🙂
my 5 year old love pretending to be a baby too! I hate doing the laundry normally but it is different when it is teeny tiny newborn clothes isn’t it!
oh those tiny newborn fingers and feet….. adorable!
This is beautifully written. It’s one of the loveliest and saddest thing as a mother to watch how quickly children grow up. This morning I actually felt pangs as I held our littlest because he’s likely to be our last – and he’s not quite two weeks old!
Your youngest sounds so sweet, and it’s lovely that you still have moments of him being you baby xx
We are coming out of the baby faze and into the toddler faze and it’s really hard saying goodbye to that. This post is so cute and I am sure we will go through the same when Baby G gets little older – he will always be my baby 🙂
Laura x