No waking people up in the middle of the night. No mad rush to get to the hospital on time. No inconvenient showing up when one member of the grandma support system was out of town. No fuss, no chaos, no drama.
Eden Lynn, a most considerate little person, arrived by appointment. She was scheduled to come into the world by C-section at 7:30 on Tuesday morning, and that’s exactly what she did. Quiet arrival or not, however, “no drama” isn’t the same as “no excitement.” Eden brought plenty of that with her, as well as lots of joy.
Truly, after the first dozen or so, it’s hard to find something new to say about a brand-new grandchild you’ve only just met. She’s beautiful. She’s precious. She’s sweet. It all begins to sound clichéd.
But that’s because it’s all so true. And because when it comes to meeting a tiny new person, words are simply not enough to describe the sense of awe and wonder. Getting to hold an hours-old grandchild, looking into blue eyes that are deep with mystery and innocent wisdom, is a privilege and a blessing. It’s a chance to participate in a miracle.
So far Eden seems to take the miracle of her arrival quite matter-of-factly. She appears to be a calm and relaxed little girl, looking around her with interest but no alarm even when she was only a few hours old.
As the youngest in a busy and active family, she’ll probably need all the calmness she can muster. Her big brother, just turned three himself, seems proud to have “two sisters!” He was uneasy, though, about the disruption in his world, with grandmas temporarily in charge while Mom and Dad were at the hospital. Things are better now, with everyone back at home. Or so he thinks. Poor kid, he has no idea that the disruption has only started.
Eden’s big sister, not quite two, pats the new baby in a vaguely approving manner when she gets the chance. I’m not sure she grasps the full implications of being bumped up from “baby sister” to “middle sister,” but it won’t take her long to figure it out.
And did I mention the two vociferous beagles? They probably won’t find the new baby all that interesting at first, but she’ll get their full attention once she gets old enough to spill food on the floor.
The household Eden has come into will be filled with noise, activity, and enough chaos to keep things interesting. It will also be filled with love, laughter, sharing, and support from an extended family thrilled to welcome this newest member.
Maybe that isn’t quite paradise. But it’s certainly close enough.
Practical Prairie Woman 