by: Soofia Aleem-Gracia
My lil’ Zoë turned 9 months yesterday and my husband says she’s getting “needier and needier.”That’s one way of putting it!She is definitely more aware of her surroundings and gets frightened when Momma leaves the room.It’s funny to notice when she plays with her toys in the living room, she glances back every so often to make sure I’m still there.If I am not, I will hear the dreaded eeeennnhhhh sound.If I don’t respond to Zoë within a couple of seconds, then I hear the sounds escalate accompanied by some light thumps from her aggressive crawling in search for Momma.When she finds me, I am awestruck! Her expression is the cutest thing in the whole-wide world. There may be a tear dripping down her face, but her eyes sparkle and her lips form a slight smile.She continues her eeeennnhhhh sound with a little chuckle hinting at her happiness in finding me.But locating Momma is not enough!Zoë will make her way toward me and begin tugging at my clothes until she can pull herself up and bear hug my legs.Then, the eeeennnhhhh sound picks back up to let me know Zoë wants to be held.
It’s hard to get house work done when the lil’ cupcake wants to be with me all the time. Sometimes, I take my laundry and fold it in the same place where she plays with her toys. Sometimes, I bring her and the walker into the kitchen so I can cook, even though she finds my kitchen mat more entertaining than the fisher price stuff. When none of that works, I nestle her into my Moby wrap and carry her with me while I take care of business around the house. Eventually she falls asleep against me.
It’s fun as a mother to complain about how Zoë harasses me for attention, but the truth is I love that she does it. Even though, I would like to be 100% productive while spending time with her. We compromise. I take breaks to make her feel comforted and she makes me feel that my hug is worth a basket of gold. No matter how annoying the eeeennnhhhh sound becomes, I can’t help but feel…oh so loved!
