Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Like a Sugar Lump

  Baby's fist

Photography and text by, Corey Amaro

My friends came over for lunch, Michelle, Herve, their son Benoit, his wife Nicole … Oh, and by the way, they had a baby since the last time I posted about them.

There is something about a baby… their baby smell, their little hands, there ruby plump lips, pinchable cheeks, silk ribbon tied wrists, their little bald heads…

Babies I am sorry to say I could swallow them whole like a lump of sugar.

 

Sophia

 

Oh when they coo.

When they smile in their sleep.

When they want to stay in your arms and do not want you to put them down.

When they are, just as they are, chubby little deliciousness.

 

Family 

 

When they nibble on your finger, and drool, soaking their clothes.

When they try to stand.

When they want what they want, trying to let you know by their little sounds.

 

Holding hands

 

When they hold your finger.

 

 

family sophia

 

When they make you a family.

When they look into their eyes letting you know your world is no longer your own.

 

  Sophia baby

I love babies, I do.

Thankful am I that I had two… even when one of them didn't sleep through the night until he was five years old.

I loved him even when he woke up several times at night until he was five years old.

Oh those long sleepless nights, how I would take one of them now with absolute joy!

But only just one…

 

Sweetheart Sophia

Love is letting them go into their tomorrows, no matter how much you want to keep them a baby forever.

 

_______

Do you have children?

Did yours sleep through the night?

For the record my daughter did at six weeks old… and well Sacha he turned me into a nightowl.

Comments

42 responses to “Like a Sugar Lump”

  1. Lilas

    Now, that baby is a “sugar lump!”
    I have no children. My time passed me by.
    But whenever I see cheeks like that (baby) I have to pinch them!

    Reply
  2. Tracey

    No kids for us. We prefer furry, 4 legged feline children. 😉 We also have a slew of nieces and nephews and get any non feline children fixes there. we like being aunt and uncle, 🙂

    Reply
  3. Penelope

    He is a cutie, for sure. My eldest son who just turned 22 slept thru his 2am feed when he was 2 weeks old. But would always wake up demanding to be fed, he didn’t like waiting at all. My 2nd son who is now 18, was the exact opposite, woke up & wanted to talk to me first & wasn’t demanding at all. Even their kindergarten teacher said they were so different! Enjoy your weekend.

    Reply
  4. meredith

    Hi Corey,
    My girls did the same thing to me. My first born started sleeping through the night (11-5am) at 11 days old! And then the second one would not sleep through the night until after she was 3 years old. Good thing she wasn’t the first born or there might not have been a second one…I was SO tired, maybe because I was an older mommy.

    Reply
  5. Karen C

    I loved my 3 babies so much, oh how I loved them. No matter how tired I was during that exhausting 3am feed I would make myself mentally trace their features while they lay in my arms because I knew that they would each grow up too quickly and I did not want to ever forget holding them.
    Sadly I became so sleep deprived (read PND)after my third that I don’t think I behaved normally for 5 years and I regret I was not the Mummy I wanted to be for them. I think that’s why grandchildren must be so special, it gives you a chance to be that person.
    As for ‘that’ smell – my husband is totally intoxicated by it and makes new parents nervous because he always asks if he can hold their new baby so he can smell it.

    Reply
  6. Jackie

    I have 4, all from China, but only one came as a baby. Sophia was 13 months old and 16 pounds. She was about 26″ tall and could walk! Because she had been in an orphanage she was quiet as a mouse, slept through the night, and nearly potty trained! I proudly and happily taught her to pee in a diaper, wake up in the night and ask to sleep with mommy! Happiest days of my life:)
    jackie
    bliss farm antiques

    Reply
  7. Jeanne

    How precious indeed
    Much love and many blessings

    Reply
  8. Ida

    Love the post and photos! I am blessed with 4 children. ALL of them sleep through (for the first time) AFTER 3 years!

    Reply
  9. Everton Terrace

    I was blessed with one wonderful daughter. I tried, oh how I tried, for more but the plan for us was one and we still feel very lucky. She started sleeping through the night at about 3 months, don’t know how you managed 5 years – whew. I LOVE when you said a baby makes you a family, true and quite a lovely thought.

    Reply
  10. Paulita

    Three children, now teenagers. The first one we got to sleep through the night, the other two, no luck. I never did master that sleep thing. Now that they’re teenagers though, they’re very good at sleeping. Why can’t old men bald heads be as sweet as baby bald heads?

    Reply
  11. Jo

    Beautiful, darling photos and post. I have four delightful children, now grown into amazing, interesting adults. I don’t remember having a wink of sleep for over 20 years. I wonder sometimes how I did it, but mums just soldier on…sleep or no sleep. My children have spread their wings and are mostly living far afield. I miss not being able to see them on a whim, but they seem to be doing well and are making their way in the world. The upside? I get to travel to some really great places.

    Reply
  12. marlis

    Oh corey, great shots.. My eldest slept through the night at 2 weeks old.. As a toddler, you’d tell it was 8 o clock and off to bed he went.. now the second one.. no naps, slept from midnight to 5:30 and if you weren’t up, hoodini let himself out of the house…
    But i wouldn’t give up the early mornings I had with him – ever.

    Reply
  13. Cheryl ~ Casual Cottage Chic

    Alas, I am still waiting to be a grandmama! Love the knit cap…and such a happy, content little one {proud mama and papa}. Thank you for sharing this little sweetness.

    Reply
  14. Jenna

    He’s beautiful, the cutest little mouth! No children for us yet. Perhaps Chelsea knew she had you all to herself at first, Sacha might have wanted a little extra attention because he had to share.

    Reply
  15. Brother Mathew

    Start doing more B B B B Babies and less of the other B. That little guy is too cute!

    Reply
  16. Joanna

    I love what you say about babies. We all respond with love for these new little beings among us. My second son had colic and didn’t sleep much until he was six months old, then it suddenly stopped so we could all sleep. What a sweet post.

    Reply
  17. Jillayne

    Two children for me, a girl and a boy. She slept through the night at about 3 months, but was very good about going back to sleep. He was a different story – a big boy who would wake up to be fed until he was about 2 1/2- just couldn’t get enough into him in the evening to last all night. He was a talker though so there were many nights he would wake the others and I remember several times the four of us watching reruns of Green Acres at 2 in the morning!
    And I think the greatest gift to give our children is the freedom to live the life they choose without guilt about how their decisions might impact us.

    Reply
  18. Tamara

    Hi Corey,
    As you know, I have my Finn! He’s almost 13 months (where does the time go??) and before him, I sadly delivered our son Henry in a stillbirth at 28 weeks of pregnancy. So I’ll always feel (and say) that I had two babies but just one is with us.
    I’d also like one more, really, but as it turns out, as much as I love it, pregnancy is very hard on me. I’m also turning 39 in December, so we have to decide soon whether or not to try again.
    I doted on Finn day and night because he was such an early premie, but somewhere around 9 or 10 months, there was just nothing more I could do for him one night. I had tried all of the tricks in my book, and he needed to just fuss it out. What do you know, he fell into a hard sleep, through the night!
    He had been waking up every three hours or so, and I’d go to him and feed him. Now I leave him to see if he’ll fall back asleep, and he always does. I did, I guess, an accidental cry-it-out though there wasn’t much crying. More like just fussing. I feel that Finn having gained the ability to soothe himself, will be better equipped to be a better sleeper in the years to come.
    And the bags under my eyes have certainly gotten smaller!
    Though I do miss those tender times in the middle of the night when we’re the only two awake, gazing at each other, a direct line from my heart to his.
    Well, I’ve written a very long comment!!
    Hugs,
    Tamara

    Reply
  19. Patt

    Two Premee’s, both up every two hours for feedings. Good thing I was young. Bringing them home at 4 1/2 lbs and 3 lbs 14 oz was amazing. They are now grown women. I don’t know where the time went. Oh to turn back the hands of time. My husband says we were sleep deprived for 20 years. Teenagers can do that to you as well. I still spend a few sleepless nights worrying about them. Nothing big, just little things. And I have two teenage Grandchildren and worry about them as well.
    My husband says his favorite nap is with a baby on his chest. They used to look so sweet.

    Reply
  20. kelleyn

    He is beautiful!

    Reply
  21. Stubblejumpin’Gal (Kate in Saskatchewan)

    Today’s post has made me look forward to your grandparenting days, Corey. You will be in heaven!
    It’s also made me wish to have a baby around to hold for a while. They are so sweet — at all ages of course, but especially at the cooing age.

    Reply
  22. Amy Kortuem

    I don’t have children, but I do have three cats who are having a heck of a time adjusting to the daylight savings time switch. They’re outside my bedroom door singing their meeee-ow morning songs for cat chow at 5:30 a.m.
    Good thing I love them…

    Reply
  23. Christine

    You still have your grandchildren to look forward to. Those babies are a delightful gift for mothers.

    Reply
  24. Breezy

    I Love your post, you described it to a tee. I have a 4 month old and you brought smiles and giggles as I read this. I’m a new follower, and look forward to future posts.
    -Breezy
    The Pink Door

    Reply
  25. Penny

    Yes, I do. Two daughters, now grown and married and, joy-of-joy, a granddaughter, seven months old, who nows sleeps through the night. It is pure, pure bliss and your pictures here remind me of her so. I love to take pictures of her chubby little hands and holding on. They don’t hold on for long, now, do they?
    My oldest was colicky and didn’t sleep through for the longest time, and then she, and then she didn’t when she became a teenager. So it goes. Now, a working gal, she can’t get enough sleep. My youngest one was a good sleeper and would also fall asleep anywhere; the car, of course, the orthodondits’s chair, and even in class after asking the teacher’s permission first. Can you imagine that?

    Reply
  26. le petit cabinet de curiosites

    I hope Mathis will look like Chelsea ( for the nights)

    Reply
  27. Linda P.

    We had two daughters. While the second slept through the night by the time she was a few weeks old, the first did not sleep. Ever. I should have been prepared. I was the oldest of four children, and we were a sleep-walking, sleep-talking bunch who roamed the house at night, acting out our dreams and carrying on hilarious conversations, to the delight or consternation of whoever else was still awake. I stopped younger siblings from going outside in the middle of the night, laughed at one plopping down in front of the oven door to watch television and rolled around the floor, laughing at one who was hopping around in the hall, catching imaginary butterflies. We must have something wrong neurologically because none of us are good sleepers now, either. I’ve reportedly gotten mad at my husband because he wouldn’t help me solve my physics problems when I went back to college early in our marriage and otherwise chastised or exhorted him to continue some nonsensical conversation I was trying to have. He’s a patient man, but he’s been patient for 41 years now.

    Reply
  28. Natalie Thiele

    Cats for us. My husband has a son, but he’s 35 and doesn’t smell at all like a baby.

    Reply
  29. melly

    Two daughters, now 32 and 29. The youngest was a breeze. Only waking up once a night for a feeding and total change. I mean total, including the crib. That child seemed to be emptying lake Ontario…..
    The first one was my challenge. Like your child, she was five before she slept through the night. About to start preschool, she announced to us that she wanted to sleep in her own room. We were shocked because the only place she would sleep would be in bed with us. We tucked her and stood by the door dazed and speechless waiting for her to jump out of bed and start the pleading. We asked her if she wanted the light left on. She replied no and asked that we please close the door. I don’t remember how long we stood outside her door….but it was for a very long time.

    Reply
  30. carol

    A girl and a boy. She will be 26 in January and he is 16! They both slept pretty well. I would say she slept better than he, but neither of them stayed up nights on end.I was forty when I had him, so I was probably just more tired!
    You described babies so beautifully. There is nothing better. I love baby feet. I love everything about babies! Oh to have them just one day again to be babies. I guess that’s what grandchildren do for you. My daughter just got engaged, but no wedding plans for a while….so there’s hope for some babies eventually!

    Reply
  31. yvonne

    What a gorgeous child.
    Nothing like the feel of a babys hand.
    yvonne

    Reply
  32. deb

    What a sweetie! Love those cheeks.
    I have 5 kids – all grown, and apparently some genetic mutation prevented ALL of them from sleeping though the night .I would listen enviously as my friends would brag about their baby sleeping through the night at ages much younger than my crew. One positive thing about all the night awakening -it was a special quiet alone time with the little one. But come to think of it, some uninterupted sleep would have been pretty special, too!
    Now they’re all adults and sleep through the night like babies (not MY babies!)- go figure.

    Reply
  33. Alan

    I had eight younger brothers and sisters. They all cried in the middle of the night when they were babies. I have no children, and I am not sorry.

    Reply
  34. heurebleu

    I had 3 sons within 5 years and no one slept through the night. I think one did while the other 2 were up for something or other till 5 and even 6 years old…sometimes if they didn’t wake I WOULD to check on them because some MUST be wrong if they didn’t wake at the midnight hour. It never bothered me…I could fall asleep on a dime..or a floor next to theirs bed.
    It’s all good. Don’t wish for grandbabies too soon..:-)

    Reply
  35. jend’isère

    Mine slept like sugar lumps, sweet but too full of energy to last.

    Reply
  36. Laurie SF

    Sugar lumps?
    My Mother likes sugar and often asks for it.
    Sweetened idea that’s past due.
    We’ve just now pondered the thought.
    Unfortunately, age now plays a factor…

    Reply
  37. Carolyn Mallin

    Two children. He’s now 37 and she’s 42.They where both good sleepers. He sometimes woke with leg cramps until he was about 12 but I’d massage his legs for awhile and he’d be back to sleep in no time.

    Reply
  38. Kiki

    yeah – I agree to everything you wrote! I am NOW very, very happy to look after a small child and even happier to return it (him/her…) to their rightful owners in the evening. But they DO look cute, smell heavenly (vanilla feet, but only for about two months into their being!), carry their heart in their eyes, hold your finger and making you feel really, really strong… lovely creatures – we ALL love them!
    My son cried for the first THREE years of his life – when we finally moved and he slept through from the first night on, I couldn’t believe it and for at least three months I got up a few times EVERY night to see if he was still breathing!!! I am only glad that all worked out well in the end – now he won’t get up without a quadruple alarm!!! LOL

    Reply
  39. Alison Murray Whittington

    We are right in the heart of babyhood now, and our baby is in our hearts.
    He doesn’t sleep through the night – he wakes sometimes six or seven times. Sometimes only three. Oh, those lucky three-wakeup-nights!
    He drools like a mad man.
    He chews on our fingers, his fingers, my hair, my clothing, his clothing, the clothing I was trying to put in the giveaway pile yesterday, whatever he can reach.
    His cheeks are SO pinchable, he has just started belly-laughing, and I can’t stop kissing his head!

    Reply
  40. Sara Barroso

    My my.. Mention babies and everyone talks. I enjoyed everyones comments. I have the honor of my 4 year old, Luca, wanting to cuddle with me everynight. I love his cuddles. Although I wish we could get him in his bed at least part of each night. Rocco however, 18 months, headstrong and a great sleeper, enjoys putting himself to sleep by holding his books and staring off into the green light of the video monitor (yes, odd but great for paranoid parents). How fantastic are sleeping children? Especially when one is cuddled right next to you?

    Reply
  41. Synthia Noble

    Your pictures of this child are so wonderful. I, too, love babies. Last night we watched the fairly recent movie, “Babies”. There is no dialog, just photography of four babies from birth through approximately the first year. One each from Africa, Mongolia, Japan and San Francisco. I think you would enjoy seeing it and I recommend it to you.
    Synthia

    Reply
  42. Gracie

    My daughter seemd to have days and nights switched for good…..or at least for the first three years of her life….making mine miserable! I can stand almost anything but not sleepless nights! She’s 22 now, and I’d give everything to be back in time, holding her all throught those endless hours….

    Reply

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