Bringing a new baby home is a little like falling in love all over again. There’s the sense of infatuation — the besottedness that makes new parents coo over every little part of their baby. The cute nose, the pretty ears, the darling little toes. There’s the sense of going through life in a fog, as if nothing else mattered. There’s the willingness to do anything and everything for that new little person. Get up two or three times a night? Who needs sleep? Hold and rock and sing to soothe the wails that seem to come with no cause? Of course. What else is there to do? That time spent cuddling a baby is never wasted. It gives mom or dad a chance to sit and rock as well, maybe even zone out a bit as the baby takes his or her cue from the parent’s slow, relaxed heartbeat. It seems to give the baby a feeling of security, and to begin to teach the child what love is all about. Of course, this newborn honeymoon is best shared, between parents and, if there are any, brothers and sisters. Everyone gets to go slightly baby-crazy together. We’ve been re-learning the baby ropes in house the last couple of weeks, adjusting to the sleepings and wakings of a newborn, working our days around feeding the baby and taking naps (blessed naps!). Caroline and Frank are living their lives most normally of all of us, going to school, doing homework and participating in their activities, and Tony is busy driving them around and picking up the slack in taking care of them, as well as holding Teresa every chance he gets. I spend my days feeding her and putting her down for naps, bathing her (usually with the help of Frank or Caroline), watching and listening for her to wake up so I can hold her again. Each day she is awake a little bit more – when we are lucky, those times come during the while the sun is up. Her eyes and ears take in more of the world, studying our faces and learning the voices that go with them, voices that are no doubt familiar to her. She like music and motion, seems curious about the dog (another creature whose voice is familiar to her), prefers being held to being in a bouncy seat, a car seat or another baby-holding apparatus. So, most of the time, we hold her. One of the benefits of having older kids is knowing that when we do have to put her down for a few minutes, it won’t hurt her if she cries, and soon enough, it will be time to set some limits for her. But not yet. Having a new baby is a little — actually, a lot — like falling in love, and the honeymoon isn’t over yet.