Babies are powerful. One of my coworkers said that the other day, and she’s right. Sure, they’re small and soft and utterly dependent on others to survive. But when a baby cries, everyone around it is distressed. Why else would airline passengers get so upset about infants on flights? It’s not like they can kick your seat. When a baby smiles or coos and laughs, everyone around it lights up. When a baby sleeps, she reminds us of the angels. Every day when I am out with Teresa, I notice the reactions she gets: people hurrying down sidewalks in the Loop break stride to smile at her, parents whose children are long past the carrying-around stage want to hold her, college-age men tell me how beautiful she is. Frank and Caroline, who mostly express their love for one another by arguing, can’t wait to see her when she wakes up and call dibs on who can hold her first. She’s been comfortable and content with Caroline since she was born; now that she has the smiling thing down, Frank is her favorite person to beam at. “She’s as cute as the earth with a pink bow around it,” he said about Teresa one day. Friends come by now to see Teresa – not just formal meet-the-baby visits, but repeat visits, for the pleasure of holding her. She’s cuddly and warm and likes to snuggle close, bringing a feeling of well-being and comfort. Her godmother calls her “Vitamin T” because of the lift she provides – even when she’s tired or not in the best of moods. I’m not sure why babies make people feel good. It must be something inborn in us, to make us take care of and nurture them when they can’t take care of themselves. Maybe it’s because they help us to be what we should. Jesus told us to love one another; most people find that to be much more difficult with surly teenagers, harried adults or crotchety seniors (to throw around a few stereotypes) than with babies. Turns out, we don’t so much mind being our brother’s (or sister’s) keeper … provided that the brother or sister is only a few months old. Even if they cry a lot. Maybe we can take that as inspiration to treat everyone a little better. Even if they annoy us. Now that I’m back at work, I miss being able to spend all day with Teresa. I miss the way she smells, the way her fuzzy head feels against my face, the way her hands clutch my shirt and my hair. But every evening, I get to spend some time with a little Vitamin T.