Rosemary Day, Indianapolis, Indiana

Originally published in Hoosier Hi LLLites (LLL Indiana) and reprinted in the January-February 1976 issue of La Leche League News.

Editor’s Note: The first issue of La Leche League News, the bimonthly publication for members, was published in 1958. The name changed to New Beginnings in 1985. New Beginnings continued to be published by La Leche League International until it was transferred to LLL USA in 2010. In 2014, it transitioned to its current blog format at www.lllusa.org/blog/.

How easy it is to get so caught up in busyness that we fail to enjoy to the fullest life as it happens. I’ve been thinking of this a lot in recent months as I’m again privileged to have a new baby to nurse, love, watch, and cuddle. How wondrous it is just to watch Christina as she responds with her whole body when we smile at her or talk to her. And, oh, the thrill just to look into her eyes as she stops nursing a moment—gazes so lovingly at me—then nurses more and stops again. I think with some sadness of those glances I may have missed, even while nursing, because I was reading, talking on the phone, or otherwise distracted.

I’ve resolved to spend even more time just looking at my baby because, as the mother of older children, I’ve learned just how fast-fleeting are those precious moments when you are baby’s whole world. This is made so clear as I watch Stevie, my almost two year old. Only a few months ago, it seems he was a newborn, and today he’s off in the yard with the “big kids” as his world broadens more and more.

And so I would urge each of you who have or are expecting a baby—spend lots of time just looking at your baby, especially looking into his (her) eyes. You’ll be richly rewarded.

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